True Blood - Season 7 - The Right Way
by InLoveWEric
Summary: Or should I say - My Way. After six seasons and the upcoming seventh and last season, I've come to see that TB is a little wanting in my eyes. We all know how the books ended and the TV show isn't looking much better. So, with the looming last season on the horizon, this is how I wish it would end. E/S (because I love the Viking) AU
1. Episode 1

**Episode 1 – Truth in the lies**

*****Starts exactly when Bill shows up at the "party" when Alcide and Sookie are leaving.*****

Holding onto Alcide's arm, I look straight into Bill's eyes. I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing him here and hearing him try to tell me what to do once again.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine, Bill," I say to him.

"Sookie," he says which he pronounces SOOKHEAH, as he always does, "You need to be protected. More so than anyone else in there," he lifts his chin in the direction of the bar.

"She's got me," Alcide growls and I hold his arm a little tighter trying to calm him down. I know how much he hates Vampires. More importantly, he hates me having any involvement with them. He tolerates Tara and Willa, but it doesn't mean he likes it.

I feel him relax a little but not a lot and I try to calm myself a little. The last thing I need tonight is a fight. Or at the very least, someone deciding to piss on my shoe. Oh wait, that is exactly what they are doing. I sigh and try not to roll my eyes. I can't stand this male posturing shit. It's been very comforting not having to deal with it all since Eric went away and Bill has been dealing with his book thing. Alcide did a little of it when we first got together but it calmed down after the first month or so and I started working for him at the construction company answering phones instead of working in the bar.

That single thought of Eric does what it always does to me. Instantly, I feel a little twinge in my belly. Luckily, it has been so long since Bill has given me blood, that he can't feel the change in my emotion and up until now, I've been able to hide these little emotional outbursts from Alcide.

"Sookie," Bill says again, taking me out of my little internal discussion, "I would expect you above any of these people to see the reason in this. You need to keep what you are hidden to keep yourself safe. You must know, that's all I've ever wanted for you."

Before I can answer him, both Alcide and Bill turn to look down the road. Okay, I may be part Fae, but my night vision isn't anywhere near these two.

"Alcide," Bill growls, "get her home!"

"Sookie, get in the truck," Alcide starts to pull me in the direction of his parked truck.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"They're here!" Bill shouts loud enough that I hope others can hear him in the back of the bar.

I don't need to ask who's here when I start to see the outline of several creatures coming up the road.

"Sookie," Bill growls again. "Get home and stay in the house until I come for you."

"You won't be coming for anyone, Bloodsucker," Alcide growls again. "I can take care of her."

For the first time in a long time, I feel the cold tingle of panic crawling up my spine. I take a deep breath trying to will it down, but I can't. All I want to do is get home. I'll be safe at home, I know I will.

I close my eyes and think of the safest place I can. Suddenly I get a picture of Eric in his little hiding place in the farmhouse. Someplace I haven't been since he regained his memories. My home; the home that he procured for me. A home that he kept safe for me, fixed for me, kept safe for me even before I fell in love with him. He fixed it in preparation of my return so long ago; a place that both he and I could be safe.

I feel a tremor move through my body and suddenly I'm standing in the middle of my living room feeling very light headed and seeing double of everything around me.

"Well," I hear from the couch. "That's not something you see every day."

I turn quickly, grabbing onto the nearest chair to steady myself.

"Pam," I say softly. "What are you doing here?" I ask her. "How did you get in?"

She uncrosses her legs and stands. "You rescinded Eric and Bill's invitation but you didn't do the same for Jess, Willa, Tara or I," she tilts her head to the side. "If I didn't smell the stench of the Were on you, I'd have presumed that you were batting for my team now," she smiles at me.

I shake off the last of the dizziness and ignore her little jab. I'm in no condition to battle wits with her at present.

I plaster a smile on my face and look her in the eye.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you," I say to her. "It's been a long time since you have popped by. I don't mean to be rude but I really don't have time to entertain right now."

"Always the southern belle," she says moving forward. "Eric will be pleased that at least, THAT hasn't changed."

The mention of his name fills me with the same feeling I had when I thought of him before. Knowing that I don't have time for this, I mentally shake it off and promise myself that I'll address this feeling later. For now, I have to get myself safe.

"Pam, not that I don't want to talk about him, I do but," I look at the door. "I really don't have time for this."

"Yes, the hoard has made its way to Bon Temps," she says and moves to the window. "That is precisely why I'm here," she turns to look at me. "Though I was hoping that the Were would be returning with you. I was so looking forward to knocking him down a few pegs."

"Alcide?" I ask her. "Why would you…"

"It is because of him and the idiot Bill, that I'm here, Sookie. Not to mention that farce of a Mayor you now have," she laughs. "Really, who actually thought that dog was fit to serve the humans?"

"Sam is a good man," I try to defend my friend.

"Yes, yes, loyal to the end, blah blah blah. But we really don't have time for this now," she moves over to the side of the couch where I see three of my suitcases packed.

"Since you seem to have a mission, I have to ask you what are you doing here?" I ask her.

"We weren't going to have time to do anything if I had to do battle with the Were, so I took the liberty of packing for you," she says.

I cross my arms in front me. "Am I going somewhere?" I ask her.

She smiles. "You are in danger Sookie," she says.

I laugh. "It seems that all my trouble started when I met your kind. Trouble also seems to find its way back to me anytime you all show back up."

First Bill, now Pam. I mean, sure I see Jess, Willa and Tara from time to time. But still.

She moves at Vampire speed to stand in front of me. "If you believe your trouble started the day you met Bill, you are fooling yourself. The day trouble found you, my Faerie friend is the day you were born."

"Why would you worry about what trouble I'm in Pam? You don't even like me," I say as I watch her return to the bags.

"You're right, I don't," she says. "You are trouble for both my maker and me. You have ruined his undead life as we knew it and if I had my way, you would have been killed the moment you walked into Fangtasia."

"Then why should I even consider going anywhere with you?" I ask her.

"Because," she turns to me. "I made a promise to my maker that I would collect you and keep you safe from the current troubles that have befallen you."

"If you mean those Hep-V Vampires," I point to the door. "They can't get me in here."

She shakes her head. "Those Vamps are a smoke screen for the real situation."

"Well, then by all means, enlighten me." I say to her.

She huffs and looks to the window again. "Sookie, did you not find it strange that Alcide allowed you to have your blood drawn for this little gathering tonight?"

I look at her confused. "Think Sookie," she says. "You were nearly drained when Bill lost control with you on your way back from Mississippi when you attempted to rescue Compton"

I shake slightly thinking of that day.

"You remember," she nods when she sees my reaction.

"Of course I remember," I growl back at her.

"Good, then you will remember that your blood couldn't be typed. That they couldn't give you blood because they didn't have any that would match yours. Alcide and your brother were both there. Why would the Were allow you to give the government your blood if he knew that it would flag their systems?"

I shake my head. "That doesn't make sense. I'm sure he forgot." I did.

She smiles. "Weres and Vampires have very keen memories, Sookie. Neither of them forgot. I would suspect your shifter knows as well."

"Even if they did remember, why would it matter? I came up clean." I say.

She shakes her head. "You don't get it, Sookie. The little request or should I say, mandate for screening was a filtering system. The human government isn't looking for those who don't carry the virus. They are looking for a cure and they are looking for those who carry an enzyme to do that. An enzyme that only a small population of humans carry."

I wait a moment and take in what she is saying. "Faerie, the government is looking for Faeries?"

"Since most, if not all of the true Fae aren't around, they are looking for half-lings," she says and goes to pick up my bags. "Now, Sookie, I'm sure you have more questions but we really need to leave. On my own, I can take on a dozen humans, your Were and Bill. But with you in tow, I'm not thinking it will be as easy."

"Wait a minute," I say as she heads to the back door. "You think that Alcide and Bill are what, going to hand me over to the government?" I ask her.

"I'm telling you," she growls again. "That they were supposed to use that little party tonight to make you disappear. The human authorities were waiting for Bill's word and they would be waiting for the hand off."

I shake my head. "Alcide loves me, he would never…"

Pam drops the bags and pulls something that looks like an iPod out of her pocket. Hitting something on the side, I start to hear voices.

"_You are sure this is the only way?" I hear Alcide's voice._

"_According to what they've shown me, yes," Bill answers._

"_Vamp, she is not going to just go off with them. If we make her understand, maybe she'll be willing to help."_

"_The human government is clear on this Herveaux, they will not acknowledge the existence of her kind. They feel that the panic will rise more than it is now. I have to agree with them. They don't know how long it will take to synthesize the enzyme but they feel with the work I had done while Warlow was still with us will help. They need blood of her kind. Since they haven't been able to find true Fae, they will settle for those like Sookie."_

"_I can protect her," Alcide says. "She doesn't need you."_

"_How will you protect her if they want her, Alcide? Are you going to hide her with your pack? Move her somewhere they can't find her? They know who she is, Herveaux. They can find her. We are talking about the human government."_

"_We hid, Witches hide, other's hide. We can take her somewhere they can't find her."_

"_It's too late for that. This is the best we can give her," Bill says._

"_Bill," Alcide says. "We can't just let them take her."_

"_We either help them and maybe we will get her back, or they will take her and she will never come back. It's your choice, Were. If you love her, you will help me. It's the only way I can keep her safe. This way they will allow me to see her. If they take her without our help, I won't know where to find her."_

"_She'll never forgive us for betraying her," Alcide says._

"_She shot your mate in cold blood and you are a still a loyal dog," Bill says with a little something in his voice._

"_Debbie was trying to kill her. Sookie defended herself. I understand that," Alcide growls back._

"_And I'm trying to save my kind as well as the rest of us. I'm doing this with or without you Herveaux. Either you help me get her to them safely or I'll do it by myself. Either way, Sookie will leave with these men tomorrow night. It's your choice whether you see her again."_

_There is a long pause. "What do you want me to do?"_

Pam hits something on the side again and I can't help the tears from falling.

"He, they…" I start to say but I can't finish a thought.

"I hate when you humans get watery," she sighs. "But we have no time for this," she looks again to the window. "They will both be here soon and I would rather not be present when they do. You have to come with me now!"

"Where?" I ask her.

"Where your future will still be in your control. Right here, right now, you have a choice to make. You can stay and be turned over as a lab rat to the humans or you can come with me and I promise you, HE promises you, you will have a choice and your involvement in all of this will be your decision and yours alone. Think fast, Sookie. I know you are smarter than Compton and the mutt think you are. Make your decision now; freedom or servitude to creatures that are indeed more unscrupulous than Sophie-Anne and Russell combined."

The thought of those Vampires gives me bigger chills than the thought of yet again, being betrayed by two people I thought cared about me.

"How do I know I can trust you?" I ask her.

"Because you already said I don't like you. Why would I waste my time trying to persuade you if what I said wasn't the truth? You must admit Sookie, that I've never wavered from giving it to you straight as the human's say. It is quite simple, really. With me you stand a chance. Alone, you will be out of this house and into something that resembles the place they took me to during Burell's reign before daybreak," she pauses and puts her hand on her hip as she waits for me to say something

"What is your damage?" she asks when I don't answer her fast enough. "You know damn well who sent me. You know that all he's ever done since he met you was try to find a way to protect and save your stubborn ass. You were the one he ran to when that Witch bitch hexed him. This house," she waves her hand, "stands because of him. You are alive because of his continued interventions into your life. He betrayed his Queen for you, captured a King to save your bubble ass and you still question his loyalty and commitment to you? Even after you rejected him yet again and walked away from him he has still kept an eye on you. Even when," she pauses. "Even when he should have been thinking of himself and how to protect those loyal to him. Yet here I stand, waiting again, for you to make the right decision instead of the one you seem to think you should."

"Hey," I point my finger at her. "I don't have bubble ass!"

"Out of all that," she smirks, "that's all you got?"

"Well," I shrug, "I can't really debate the truth?"

She laughs. "Tell that to the human and vampire politicians. So are you in or are you out?"

I hate that I have to make this choice. I hate that I have to do this but damn it, I can't deny what I heard with my own ears. If I stay, then I'm certain that I won't have the time I need to figure anything out. If I leave, well, I may have some time to make the right decision for me.

Looking at her I see that she's still standing but this time she's crossed her arms under her chest and raises an eyebrow at me, waiting.

"I'm in," I say to her and move toward the door.

"Like you had any other choice," She says almost low enough that I shouldn't have heard her.

Deciding that it would be best not to piss her off any more than she already is, I wait by the door as she grabs a few of the bags and walks out. Grabbing the last two, I follow her out not bothering to lock the door behind me. If what Pam says is true Alcide and his, well his friends, will be here soon enough. Besides, if they are going to bust into my house, I don't want them breaking my door. If I leave it unlocked and maybe then I won't have to fix too many things when I get back. Yeah, if I can ever get back here which, for some reason I think is a very unlikely possibility.

I walk right behind her down the stairs to a large black Hummer parked just to the side of my house. Alcide had been talking about building a garage for us but I guess that is no longer on the table. Oh well, the house probably would have looked funny with one anyway.

I listen to a beep coming from the car and watch as the back starts to open.

"Traded up from the mini-van?" I ask her.

"This," she says as she places all of my bags in the back, "is Eric's. He thought if things went bad, I'd need some ramming capability. I could fly us out of here but I'd have to leave your bags and knowing you the way we do, my dear southern flower, you would be very pissed if I had to replace all your clothes. Not that I would mind a quick stop in New York City for some shopping but that would put us behind schedule and he would not be pleased. Tell me," she raises an eyebrow to me again, "do you own anything else besides jeans and summer dresses? What happened to those other clothes that you used to wear? I seem to recall a very lovely LBD with some pretty impressive pumps."

I shrug as I move to get into the car as she closes the back. "Alcide didn't really like them very much."

She shakes her head. "You chose not to wear clothes because of a Were?"

She climbs in herself and starts up the beast.

"Well, I've worn clothes for a man from time to time," I say to her.

"Yes, but that was to get him to take you out of them. I'm not thinking that you, dressing like Hanna homemaker gets the Were all hot and bothered."

Neither of us says another word as she turns around and heads down the drive. Once at the end, she pulls out onto Hummingbird drive. Turning right, she starts toward the highway. I couldn't help but look back at the old homestead and let out a sigh. I feel like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend. No, not an old friend, family. Turning back in my seat, I don't say a thing because really, what is there to say? No matter what, Pam will have a comeback and I'm really starting to get tired of matching wits with her. It's been a rather long day and I'm thinking that it's going to be an even longer night. Pam may say that she doesn't care about me but she does care about Him. I'm almost positive that she was given instructions not to upset me more than I had to be. Even without her blood in me, I'm sure Pam would understand that this is all hard for me. But then again, she may like the fact that the little human, or part human is being quiet. Vampires do like the silence if memory serves.

About a mile from the house, I see a few headlights coming toward us. I wouldn't expect there to be that many cars coming through this side of town, especially at this time of night. There were a few houses about three miles down Hummingbird but most people take the 2A bypass to get there from the center of town and don't bother coming around the lake and down past my place. Other than Bill, there wouldn't be anyone else with business out this way. I hadn't seen his car back at the bar but then again, I wasn't looking for it either. Besides, I don't really know what he's driving these days. Jessica doesn't mention him much and I've successfully steered clear of all conversations regarding him.

However, for some reason, I'm thinking that these are the folks that were coming for me and I can't help but get a vision of Bill and Alcide marching them to my gates like the banner men in some sort of ancient battle sequence of a really bad movie. Except this really bad movie happens to be my life.

"Put your head down," Pam says to me while the car is still a ways away.

I do as she says but not before seeing that there isn't just one car, but quite a few heading down my little road. Counting the number of sets of lights, it would appear that there are at least six vehicles and if any of them have their lights off, there could be more that I can't see yet. What I wouldn't give for Vampire vision right about now. This mostly human crap sometimes really sucks. I feel the increase in speed and instead of making my usual comment regarding Vampire driving and their need for speed, I do as she asks and move myself down to the floor boards as far as the seatbelt will allow.

I hear a few tires screeching as we whiz past what I assume are the other cars doing probably four times the posted speed limit. I can't see the speedometer from my location but I don't think I can be that far-off.

"Well that didn't take them too long," Pam says as she glances quickly down at me. "Stay down and brace yourself," she says.

Before I can ask why, I feel us make a sharp turn and suddenly the car begins to bounce around a bit. It really doesn't take a brain surgeon to know what is going on.

"Feel the need do a little off roading, Pam?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "Why have a Hummer if you can't go off roading? I believe the rednecks call it mudding?"

I can see her smirking in the glow of the dashboard and shake my head while trying to stop myself from bouncing around too much.

"How are we going to get out of this?" I ask her. "If what you said is true, won't the authorities be watching any roads leading out of Bon Temps once they realize I'm not at home? I mean we can't off road all the way out of the state."

I'm sure we could if we knew where to go. But I have a sneaky suspicion that Pam doesn't spend too much time with the mudding crowd.

"I am sure given enough time the human authorities could set up some sort of grid to find us. But by the time they get that coordinated, we will be long gone. I have a plane waiting on a private airfield about three miles outside on Monroe. We will be there soon," she looks down at me. "This is a shortcut."

"Shortcut?" I ask her. "You sure about that?"

"We looked at every route and determined every contingency plan for every obstacle we would have to face when attempting to extract you from the area, Sookie. We knew we wouldn't have much time once we got you away from Compton and Herveaux. There wouldn't have been any time for me to come up with plans on the fly. The human government may be lacking in many areas but they can get things done when they are doing it behind the back of those that elected them," she looks at me again. "Eric wanted me to be prepared," she nods as if that is the end of it.

I decide that I'm going to ask her the question I've been dying to ask since I first saw her.

"Why isn't he here?" I ask without even thinking.

It is a logical question and one that she seems to be avoiding. Sort of like the pink elephant in the room. But this elephant happens to be over six feet tall, blonde, blue eyed and a bad ass Vampire that loves a fight. I mean just because he sent Pam for me doesn't mean he wanted to see me. All I have to go on, really, is that she said, he sent her. How do I know that is even true? But then again, like she said, Pam's never lied to me. Pissed me off, yes; tried to get me away from her maker, absolutely; called me on my shit? More times than I can think of. But lie to me, no Pam has never lied to me.

She looks down at my crouched form once again and I can see something on her face that resembles pain. I've never seen her look like this and I don't mind saying that I don't like it.

"He would have come for you if he could, Sookie. You will see soon enough and I'm sure that he'll be willing to answer any questions you have. But for now, the fact that he sent me to you will need to be enough," she says with what sounds like pain in her voice.

"Well at least can you tell me where we're flying too?" I ask her deciding that this is so not the time for what I assume is a very heavy subject. My heart sinks into my stomach thinking that something's happened to him.

"Our first stop will be Nova Scotia. Then we will be flying to safety," she says to me with no other explanation.

"Nova Scotia is not far enough?" I ask her.

"Canada is not being as aggressive as other countries neutralizing the threat of the rogue, infected Vampires, but they won't try to stop the efforts of the US government either. We need to get to a more secure location. Somewhere you can make your decisions and think about what to do next. There is only one place that Eric feels you can do this safely. Once we are there, you'll understand."

I move myself up a little to look behind us. I haven't heard any cars or human thoughts since we went off road and I'm hoping that they aren't following us but am sure that they aren't giving up on us either. The little I gleaned from the passing cars tells me that if I had stayed at the farmhouse I would have indeed been a lab rat by tomorrow as Pam so eloquently indicated.

That realization sends a chill all the way to my toes. It is indeed one thing to be told someone will betray you. It is quite another to know it for certain. I take a few deep breaths, refusing to lose it in front of Pam. She may be here to help me but I have my pride and dignity. I refuse to cry over this. That is, at least until I'm alone.

"You know where they are?" I ask her knowing she won't need any further clarification.

"I heard half the cars continuing to the farmhouse and the other half turning back toward the highway. No doubt they are thinking if you aren't home then I'm taking you to Fangtasia or perhaps I'm attempting to drive you to Texas before dawn," she answer me.

"Did they see you?" I ask her.

"I saw Bill which means he saw me. If they believe that you teleported yourself to the farmhouse to evade them, you would be sitting there waiting for them or at the very least, you would have called your Were to find out what happened and would again, be waiting on him to return to you. I'm sure that once Bill saw who was in this vehicle, he would assume that I have somehow acquired you. Therefore, if I have you then I must be taking you to Eric. Either that or my maker is with you at the Farmhouse attempting to get you to come with him."

"So that is what I did," I say to her not knowing for certain how I returned to the farmhouse.

She smirks at me. "You really don't know all your abilities yet, do you?" she asks.

I don't bother answering her because I don't have an answer.

"My dear Sookie," she says to me. "You have the light, which means you have other gifts as well. You may not be more than a Halfling but you do have power, more now than you did the last time I saw you by the smell of you."

Ignoring that last part for the time being I continue with my questions. "If they believe that I went to the farmhouse, why would they think that if I wasn't home you would take me to Fangtasia to see Eric?" I ask.

"We may or may not have put the word out that he was heading back to Louisiana to check on his businesses. We believe that this knowledge had concerned Bill enough to hasten your extradition, if you will," she smiles slightly.

"So you are saying you forced his hand?" I ask.

Pam nods. "If you aren't at the Farmhouse, Bill will automatically assume that I was taking you to meet with Eric since he's returned."

"Why would Bill think that?" I ask her. "Eric has been gone for over six months. Why would Bill think I would agree to go anywhere near him?"

"You are, aren't you?" she raises and eyebrow at me again.

"Am I?" I ask her.

"Look," she sighs. "Eric allowed some things to be leaked that he was in Canada about a month ago and then he was reported to be in Alaska. Then he was seen in San Francisco and then he was reported to be heading to Texas."

"How did he do that?" I ask.

"Through his contacts and others, Eric made it appear to Bill and those fools from the government that he was heading back to Louisiana. We relied on Bill's insecurities and possessive nature to do the rest."

"What do you mean?" I tilt my head to the side. This was really getting a bit confusing.

"Eric can read Bill Compton like a book and he did exactly what we expected him to do," she smirks again. "We are confident that Bill indicated that Eric has a certain affinity for you and that his return has nothing to do with his businesses and everything to do with either warning you what was to happen or to use you himself to barter with the government for certain provisions in this mess."

"Why on earth would the government take the word of Bill Compton?" I throw my hand up in the air. I mean seriously, who would believe that soap opera storyline crap?

"It would appear that Bill used his ample gifts of persuasion to convince the human authorities that he was the better horse to back."

"You mean he glamoured them?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "He may have or the humans may have learned a thing or two from Burell and used those contacts to block his glamour," she shrugs. "Regardless, Eric worked it so that the paper trail would find him in Fangtasia starting tonight. Before that, the trail will show that he was heading to Isobel in Texas."

"Okay, maybe he could convince himself and others that Eric was heading this way but why on earth would Bill think that Eric would return to Fangtasia? According to Tara, it isn't doing so hot considering there isn't any TrueBlood and public drinking is still against the law."

"Yes, but with this little pact that your Shifter Mayor and Bill cooked up, that will all change. If a human belongs to the Vampire, then it isn't going to be against the law to drink from them. With this new freedom, Vampires will want someplace to go, and what better place than a bar owned by a very old, very powerful Vampire?"

I shake my head. "I just don't see Eric doing that after all this time. I wouldn't have expected him to return to Louisiana for any reason. This place doesn't hold a lot of fond memories for him. I mean, I know he was hurt when Nora died."

"He was devastated," she counters. "Eric has not loved many in his long life. I dare say, he loved more since his turning than he did in his human days but that is neither here nor there," she waves that thought off. "He loved Godric with all that he had. Nora he loved just as much but more importantly, she was his last link to his maker. I've no idea or want to even think about what it feels like to lose a maker you are so devoted too," I swear her voice shakes just before she pauses.

"I love Eric more than my own life but it's not even a quarter of what I felt from him the morning Godric met the sun. He may not have watched, but he did feel it. He did, however, watch Nora's decimation. The agony, the…"

"I know," I say softly.

She doesn't have to go on. I know what he felt. It was unbearable. The pain he went through would cripple even the strongest of men. I only felt a small part of it and I can't tell you that I would have been able to stand any more. When I heard that he hadn't returned with the others, I wasn't surprised in the least. I never blamed him for leaving. I don't think I could have stayed after everything he'd lost either. Besides, I surely didn't give him a reason to stay. Even if I tried, I don't think it would have been enough.

"If you and I know that Eric would never step foot in Louisiana again, then again, I have to ask why would Bill believe that he would?" I ask.

"Because of you, Sookie," she says. "Bill is a fool when it comes to you. He will do anything to get you, keep you and own you. He is all consumed by you and his misguided idea of love."

"That's a little much, don't you think?" I ask her.

"Is it?" She asks as she makes another sharp turn and just like that we are back on a road.

"Think about it, Sookie," she pauses. "He may have been ordered to the area by the Queen but he stayed here even after you found out the true reason for his insertion into your life. When he was crowned King of Louisiana, he insisted on moving the Monarch's compound to Bon Temps. Even though you had gone off to Fairyland. With no idea of where you were or when you would return, Compton continued to stay in his new compound as Eric waited for you from the Farmhouse, watching for the moment you returned. When Burrell leveled the boom on our kind, he stayed in the area. Now, with the world at his feet and the ability to live anywhere because of his constant presence in the human world, he now returns to that shit hole of a town for what, his kingdom, his Vampires? No, he came back here for you."

"According to you, he was giving me to the authorities," I counter her.

"Yes he was but with conditions that he would be able to be your liaison with the authority as well as your guardian. In time, it was agreed that you would be released into his custody." She makes another turn and I can start to see lights in the distance.

"How do you know all of this?" I ask.

"Your phone, the Were's, the Shifter's, and Bill's have been monitored for the last month. The deal was the best Compton could make after the authorities learned about you. The condition for you being turned over was an easy one for everyone to agree too. Once they got what they needed from you, you would be turned over to Bill to be kept until they needed you again. He even bought several houses around the military compounds they were thinking of transporting you to," she pulls out a file from somewhere behind her seat without taking her eyes off the road. "Here, read it," she says as she hands it to me.

I sit up a little farther and turn on the dome light to see the file. Opening it I read through the first few sheets of paper. It appears that Bill has been busy as he's traveled the country promoting his book. There are titles for homes in DC, Atlanta, Wyoming and California. All seem to be within a three mile radius of several large compounds. I know this because there are maps attached to each document. Shaking my head, I close the file and sigh again.

"He traded me for what?" I ask her.

"The government gets your blood, he gets you," she shrugs. "He convinced them that the only way you would cooperate is if you thought you were free. The only way you would think that is if he was with you convincing you that you had any say in what was going on. He would ply you with as much blood as he could to control you and you would be completely convinced that you were in control of what was going on. That is, until it was too late."

"Snowballs in hell have a better chance than Bill Compton would have had inserting himself as my self-appointed master ever again," I huff crossing my arms again.

I'd never trust Bill again, he must have known that. If he didn't then he is a bigger fool than I ever thought he was.

"Yes, but consider this, Sookie," she turns again and I see brighter lights come into view. "If Bill couldn't convince you to stay with him, what would he do?"

I think on that for a moment and then shake my head when an idea begins to take root. It isn't giving me warm and fuzzy feelings that's for sure. But then another part of my brain takes over and I begin systematically breaking it down.

"Jason is with Violet," I pause. "She would protect him. Tara is your child so I know she would be safe. Sam is the Mayor of the town so he couldn't do anything to him without shining light on the situation so he's safe. Lafayette, well he's him but other than threatening to harm him which I don't think he would do because Laffy is a Witch and we all know that we oh so don't want to piss off a Witch, so what would Bill do to make me obey?"

She smirks at me and this one isn't as pleasant. "What wouldn't he do? He'd promise you everything. He'd make you think that it was the only way to keep the ones you love safe. After all, I have been gone for some time and even Tara hasn't had much contact with me. Eric, to your knowledge was not back and would never be returning. Tara and Willa would be vulnerable without their makers by their sides. They are, after all still baby Vampires. Bill would use your love and concern for them, never mind your nurturing nature to force your hand as it were. As for your Shifter, he may be mayor but he can still be harmed and what about the one carrying his whelp? Compton would no doubt express to you that it wouldn't be him making the threats but the government and of course, he would use this tactic to keep you in line."

"If that didn't work, he would attempt other things. As for your brother", she shrugs. "Vampires can be destroyed. I know you've seen that. With Violet not around, what would become of your brother? Your Witch friend may be powerful, but I'm sure Bill would come up with something creative to threaten him and you with. The real question, Sookie, is not what Bill Compton would do but what wouldn't he do to secure you to his side? Then, when everything was said and done, he and the government would use you, your face and your carefully unique makeup to exploit you as a hero and he would be beside you all the way."

"You said the government wouldn't acknowledge that I was a Faerie," I say to her.

"They wouldn't," she moves the car into a hanger. "That doesn't mean that they would call you and your kind out on your uniqueness. How your sacrifice and those of the ones that died trying to save the human race are the heroes. They will make you out to be martyrs for the cause. Or maybe you will be placed in protective custody for your own good after they've gotten what they needed from you. Either way, when it was over and done with, Bill would have what he always wanted, you."

She pulls the vehicle to a stop. Once she puts it in park, she opens the door and makes her way to the back and proceeds to remove my bags as I sit in my seat and try to absorb everything that she's said. Could Bill be so manipulating? Could he have worked his way into Alcide's head and convinced him that betraying my trust was the right thing to do? After all, Alcide loves me. I know he does. Not only has he said it, but he's thought it. Thinking of my big Wolf sends another shiver through me. How could he, for one moment, believe that this was for the best? How could Bill convince him that this was the only way to save me?

If Alcide was in on this then Sam must have been too. Pam was right that he knew about who and what I was too. How could he have let them do this to me? Who else could have known? Who would Bill have told? Well like Pam said, if it got Bill what he wanted, he may do or say anything to finally accomplish his goal. I've known that all along. Somewhere in the depths of my being, I've known that Bill would do anything to procure me; first for his Queen and then for himself. He's already proven himself not to be above lying, cheating or stealing to get me. Part of me even thought it was strange that he'd stayed away this long. Now, evidently, I know why. He was just biding his time.

I look out the window at nothing. Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in. Isn't that a line from the Godfather? Maybe, but it doesn't make it any less true. No matter how I cut it, I'm always going to be involved with Vampires. I'm just too valuable to them. I thought that Alcide could protect me but again, I'm proven wrong. I've been wrong about so many things.

"Last chance, Sookie," Pam says coming and opening my door. "Are you in or are you out?"

That is the question now isn't it, but I have one of my own.

"I have one question for you before I make up my mind," I say to her.

She raises an eyebrow and places her hand on her hip, waiting.

"Who told the government who I was to begin with?" I ask.

She waits a moment and then crosses her own arms. "You really don't think they let him off for killing the Governor just because he asked nicely, did you?"

I close my eyes and will the tears away. Again, Bill used me as a bartering chip to make a better deal for himself.

Without another word, I get out of the car and follow as Pam leads me to the stairs of the plane. She motions for my bags to be placed on board and makes her way up the stairs. Once inside she turns to a woman seated to our left in the large cream colored interior.

"Have you heard from them?" she asks without using her name or introducing us.

The woman smiles and nods. "They are five minutes out. Your child indicated that they had a little bit of trouble getting away from that party."

"Tara," I turn to look at Pam. "Tara is coming?" I ask.

Pam smiles at me. "You think we would leave Tara and Willa here with you gone? They are the first Vampires Bill would point the fools too. He would know that you wouldn't want anything to happen to them."

"What about Jessica?" I ask her.

"She is tied to Bill. We can't risk it."

I wait a moment before I nod. As much as I hate it, Jessica is connected to Bill. There is no way we would make it to safety with her in tow. He'd be able to find her and then we'd all be in danger.

I am no sooner settled when I see both the young Vampires appear in the cabin area.

Without a word Tara moves toward Pam and with Vampire speed, she takes hold of her maker and proceeds to give her a steaming kiss that would make anyone blush. Willa and I busy ourselves with looking everywhere but at them. Just when the tension in the area becomes oppressive, they end their passionate reunion and Tara takes a step back.

"You leave me like that again, Bitch, we will be having words," she says and then turns to me without waiting for Pam to answer. "Remember when I said I couldn't hate Bill again?"

I nod.

"Yeah, well I stand corrected," she moves to give me a hug.

Our relationship is better but not where it was before she was turned. I don't see much of her now that she's been trying to run Fangtasia but we still keep in touch.

After she lets me go, I turn to face Willa.

"You okay?" I ask her.

She nods and tries to smile. "I'm sorry you are in danger again, Sookie."

I laugh. "It seems like that's all I'm ever in. I swear I've got the worst taste in men."

I make my way back to my seat and put my seatbelt on, waiting for us to depart.

Willa comes to sit beside me.

"Was Eric really that bad?" she asks.

I look at her and I can see almost fear in her eyes. It's quite rare to see fear ever coming from a Vampire. But I have to admit, most of the ones I've spent a lot of time with are quite old. Oh sure I've been around Tara, and even Jessica. But neither of them ever showed me this kind of fear before.

I can understand her concern. She hasn't gotten much time with Eric before he left her. I know that for a fact because she's made mention of it from time to time and I know that it bothers her. He practically left her after he made her. But her question stirs up some mighty big feelings within me. Ones I've tried really hard to suppress over the past six months.

"No," I say to her. "Eric wasn't so bad. If I'm truly honest with myself, Willa. He is the exception to my bad taste, I guess."

"Do you mind if I ask why you broke things off with him?" she asks me.

Before I can question her she smiles softly.

"Tara," she points over to my friend who has placed herself very close to her maker on the couch. "She said that you and Eric were together for a time and that you refused to stay with him."

I smile sadly at her. "I don't know why I walked away from him exactly," I look down. "At the time I was confused. I thought my life would be better without any Vampires in it. I thought that if I didn't choose Eric, then I couldn't get hurt. But even when I choose a warm blooded man, I get my heart stomped on."

"But you left him, right?" she asks.

I nod. "I walked out on Eric, yes. But you have to understand, Willa. I didn't think it would work out," I look up at the young Vampire. "He's a very powerful Vampire and I'm just, well I'm just me," I shrug.

"He loves you," she says. "I felt it. I felt it when his sister died. He was so angry. I think I even felt it when he made me. He loves you very deeply. I don't know if I've ever experienced that kind of love before."

"You don't know that," I look toward the window when we begin to taxi out of the hanger.

"Yes I do," she says and I turn back to her. "He wouldn't be doing all of this if he didn't care a great deal for you. He's taking a really big risk. I may be new to all this Vampire stuff, but from what I've been told, he has taken his life in his hands protecting you. This could end badly for a lot of us if it doesn't go his way. He wouldn't risk so much if he didn't care."

"He sent for you too," I say and take her hand.

Suddenly the Vampire sitting next to me looks very lost and small to me. She sort of reminds me a little of Jessica when she was made.

She shrugs. "I am a danger to him and you. It's smart for him to bring me along. If he left me, I could be used to force your hand. Jason has Violet to protect him. Lafayette has made arrangements to disappear for a while and everyone knows that your connection to most of the folk in that town isn't what you would call all together good. The only one that Bill could use would be Arlene and she and her family are pretty safe. The only other one would be Alcide, who is in cahoots with Bill. There isn't anyone else to use to get you to comply.

"I hope so," I say and squeeze her hand. "I'd hate to think anyone came to harm because of me."

"From what Tara has told me, my maker is smart. He'll protect you."

"He'll protect you too, Willa. You belong to him. He may have left, but he had good reason. Eric will keep you safe."

"I'm not stupid Sookie. I know Eric didn't make me for the same reasons he made Pam. I was revenge, nothing more," she looks down. "I may be his child but that's it."

"Willa," I say and squeeze her hand again. She looks up at me and I see the beginning of red tears in her eyes. "Eric has a good soul. He may have a warped sense of morality, but he has a code he lives by. He is faithful and true to the ones he cares about. He gave you his blood. For whatever reason, he chose you to be connected to him. To harm you, would harm him. That means something to Vampires like him."

She tries to smile. "You really think so?" she asks.

"You'll see," I pull her hand and she leans into me allowing me to wrap my arm around her. "He will make sure you are safe."

"I should be comforting you," she says sniffling.

"I think you need it a little more than I do," I say to her and hold her closer as we both look out the window into the night.

This is only the start of our adventure and we have a lot ahead of us. I look down at Willa and see that she's still staring out the window. For her sake and mine, I hope Eric doesn't let us down.


	2. Episode 2

Episode 2 – Making deals with the devil

BPOV

"Well, where is she?" The very tall, slender and foul smelling Human Lieutenant asks me for the hundredth time since we arrived at Fangtasia. We were barely in the door before he started questioning the whereabouts of Sookie. I'd ignored the first several inquiries, attending to other matters at hand but finally suggested that he instruct his men to search the premises. I'd known moments after we entered the main bar area that Sookie wasn't here. There hadn't been a trace of her scent, not even the slightest hint. I would guess she hadn't been to the bar in months. More precisely, I'd wager a bet that she hadn't been in the bar since Russell was being held. But then again, I could be wrong but I'm hardly ever wrong.

I look at the human standing in front of me once more. I have no idea what his name is and know nothing else about him other than he is an officer in this human's army. Quite frankly, I've never seen a reason to ask him anything more. To me, he's just another blood bag drone taking orders from some other drone that believes that he has the power to control things. The difference with the one standing before me is that he believes he holds power over me. These humans can be so foolish.

I raise my eyes and just stare at him from my seat at the bar. The place is empty save us. One advantage of having these humans wielding guns with silver plated ammunition is that it's of the most certainty that we can clear a room rather effectively. The sad groups of Vampires congregating within the bar, this evening, were easily cleared out. Once we disposed of any onlookers, the bar was searched from top to bottom looking for Sookie. Like I said, she was not here but then again, there was nothing else of interest either. This above everything gave me reason to be concerned. Clearing the bar should have been easy but finding nothing else seemed to be too convenient.

I knew that Tara and Willa were in Bon Temps for the big blood/human pairing. After all, they really didn't have any choice in the matter. Any Vampire who wished to be seen as friendly and accommodating toward this unfortunate situation knew that they show their faces and participate in this joint project between humans and Vampires. I guaranteed with Tara and Willa's current predicament they wouldn't be left out in the cold. Especially since the two of them are now running Fangtasia for their makers, they needed to play nice. With the both of them out of the building for the evening and without anyone here to make decisions for the other Vampires and humans on staff, I, as reigning King of Louisiana and the last member of the Vampire Authority, closed the establishment for the night without needing to discuss this decision with any of those minions.

No one wanted to look like they were being difficult while facing these most uncertain times. After all, the Vampire community has yet to come to a decision regarding how we will proceed after the decimation of the Vampire Authority. Some wish things to revert back to a time before the Authority was so powerful while others wish to rebuild the structure as a whole. There has been a great deal of infighting and posturing to gain political footing in these unnerving times. Being the Vampire King gives me some authority when it comes to my territory and being part of the Authority gives me more power, in some circles that is. But even I have to play my cards close to my vest and watch my footing. Things could and probably will change on a dime. Vampires are not one to sit for too long. Though many of the older ones know the art of patience and time, there are a considerable amount of younger Vampires than older that need to be dealt with. I'm sure that at some point, the Vampires will organize again and I am confident that I'll be part of that new regime. But until then, one must do what one can to survive in this dark time. I will look after mine and myself and let the others deal with their own messes. I for one have no time to deal with the riff-raff roaming the area at present. That includes those found in the bar tonight. I've other priorities to deal with and nothing will deter me from my goal.

Looking around the bar I let out an internal sigh. I've never agreed with Eric's methods, but you can't argue that Fangtasia hasn't been a money maker. There weren't many Vampires present this evening and that would stand to reason. With the hep-V epidemic, I know for a fact that many Vampires were hoping that more towns would follow in Bon Temp's path and start a "buddy" program as Merlotte called it. In fact, other gatherings are taking place in most of the northern towns this upcoming week. Other areas in neighboring kingdoms are following suit and will be holding their own rallies in the upcoming weeks. It had taken some doing to get others to buy into this scheme but I didn't rise to the Queens most valuable procurer for nothing. I still have a great many contacts in the Monarchies and with my position in the human world, it didn't take much convincing to get the others to agree that this "buddy" system is the best solution in a very bad situation. Compound that with the fact that most, if not all Vampires in the areas are hungry they really had no other choice but to comply. There is that and also a fact that, not unlike me, monarchies hate dealing with messes and despise cleaning up after their own.

Granted the exchange of untainted blood for protection wasn't the real reason for the gathering that happened in Bon Temps this evening but it is still a good idea and one that will bring me more favor when the time comes to position myself back into a higher position. Then this little game I'm playing with the human authorities will be over and I'll have what I want. Once I'm back in power, all will be as it should and Sookie will be safe by my side. I'll guarantee it.

"There is no sign that this Vampire, Mr. Compton indicated should be here in the bar this evening. In fact there is no evidence that she has been in tonight or any other night, Lieutenant Tisdale."

Ah yes, now I seem to recall someone saying his name once or twice before. Lieutenant Marcus Tisdale, leader of this mission.

"I believe you are correct, Private," Tisdale says to the other human and then turns back to me. "I'll ask you again, Mr. Compton," Lieutenant Tisdale pauses for emphasis. "Where is this little girl you thought would be so easy for us to obtain this evening? Where is this Vampire you assured us would be here and would either have the woman or would be waiting for her?"

"I'll tell you what I told you before," I say as I attempt to keep my temper in check. "If Sookie wasn't at the farmhouse she should have been here," I push off the stool and walk toward the door. "Your other men should be here soon. I'm sure that Alcide will have news for us or have our girl with him. There would be no way he'd leave her at her home."

Or leave her with anyone that was there waiting for her. Certainly if there were some major issues we would have heard about them already.

"How do you know that we can trust this friend of yours, Compton?" the lieutenant asks me.

"For the same reason you know you can trust me," I say as a matter of fact.

"Yeah, like the Governor trusted you," I hear one of the other humans mumble under his breathe.

I choose to ignore that comment. Clearly, it wasn't meant for me to hear and there is no need to start a blood bath now. I close my eyes for a moment, counting to ten. When I open my eyes once more, I feel a great deal more centered. I sigh at the creatures around me. These humans have no idea who they are dealing with and even less of an idea on how to deal with someone like my Sookie; more so now that her powers are manifesting earlier than expected. I was assured by every seer, witch and daemon that I could find that knew anything on the subject of Faeries and they all said the very same thing. That if Sookie would come into any powers, she wouldn't do so for few more years. Granted, many didn't know all the facts about Faeries and their ways but from what I could piece together was that the only way she could quicken the process would be to have a continuous supply of either Vampire blood or have a constant sharing of Fae light with another Faerie that held a light more powerful than hers. Evidently, the sharing of light as it were would not only speed up the process but heighten Sookie's skills. Since the only Fae that Sookie is in contact with is a child, I doubt that the latter is the case. I've also been assured by the Were that the last time Sookie received Vampire blood was before Warlow was destroyed. That was six months ago. So the fact that Sookie showed any signs other than her ball of light is quite confusing. There really is no reason for Sookie to be able to Teleport, but both the Were and I saw it with our own eyes. Thankfully there were no other humans around at the time or we would have other reasons to be concerned. I can only hope that these human authorities don't think much on this right now. If they do, there may be problems and my plans will all go by the way side before they even begin.

These humans need to believe that Sookie will be theirs and will not be able to do escape by human or other means when they get her to the facility. Otherwise, they may decide to perform other experiments on her to attempt controlling her gifts. I suspect that those experiments will be as effective in controlling her as other ones were in controlling Vampires. No, for now, we will need to downplay Sookie's newest skill and any other that may come to light. I will need to speak to Sookie in private to assure her of the need to keep this a secret. I'm sure she will agree that it's in her best interest.

Once I assure those in positions of power over the project that she's more pliable being with me than in the compound, we can deal with this little skill. Until I can get her alone, I hope that Sookie knows better than to use it again. If she does, it could mean the death of all of us.

"I'm sure everything is fine," I smile at the humans in the room. "We'll find out more from Alcide once they have collected Sookie from the Farmhouse and met up with us," I look back at the Lieutenant. "What about the infected Vampires you unleashed this evening?"

"Not that it is any of your concern," the human huffs. "All but two survived and were taken into custody by our men stationed at the bar. None of the humans were harmed as was part of the deal," he nods in my direction. "Now you want to tell me how the demure Miss Stackhouse got away from a Vampire and a Were that were sure they could control her?"

"I told you before and I'll tell you again," I growl at him beginning to lose the little patience I had with him. "I don't know. She never was able to do that before," meaning of course her skill in question. "I'm sure that it was brought on by fear. Her kind are unpredictable in their skills but I assure you that it will not happen again."

"You never mentioned anything about their kind exhibiting any abilities, Mr. Compton," another human responds.

I turn to see Dr. Millie Stork walk into the bar with her rather large entourage behind her. I look her up and down as her heels click on the floor rather aggressively. The woman is a bit older than Sookie, but not older than I was when I was turned. She is a striking woman who still has her figure and her looks, for the most part. She's intelligent too, for a human that is. Probably one of the most intelligent humans I've come in contact with in over a hundred years. Her focus has been on the science since the beginning; nothing like those hacks that were working for the Governor.

She took the information I'd provided and made more than several more advancements than Takahashi did in his time in my basement. Granted, I didn't have at my disposal that equipment the government has but that too is another thing all together. She has been able to isolate a great many genes and enzymes in the blood that, on paper could be the answer to all our problems.

"Are you keeping things from us, Mr. Compton?" she asks smirking at me. "That, I believe wasn't part of the deal."

"I've only heard rumors of the gifts of Sookie's kind," I widen my arms attempting to look as innocent and shocked as possible. "Like I said, they are most unpredictable and run on emotions."

I'm not sure of that fact but is sounds convincing.

"So, if I'm hearing you correctly, you have never heard of such a skill?" she asks.

"Sadly, I've not been privy to many encounters with the species in my lifetime." I nod in her direction.

"How many of these Faeries, as you call them, have you come in contact with again, Mr. Compton?" she moves to sit in a seat in front of me. Crossing her long legs and folding her hands across her chest, waiting for me to answer.

"Sadly, I've only known a few HalflingsHalflings and have never had dealings with those of pure blood, Doctor. Most HalflingsHalflings I've encounter hold the light if anything. None had had any gifts that I'm aware of. I directed you to several of them if I recall," it is my turn to smirk at her. "I am sorry to say that you couldn't find the one in Dallas but that really isn't my fault. No one has seen him for almost two years."

"Yes," she leans forward. "However, you did tell us about the other one, Hadley is it, and her son," she acts like she's thinking. "Hunter is his name. Sadly, Hadley's blood does not hold the enzymes we are in need of but her son may be useful once we have all the data on him compiled. It's surprising however, that only when the mother tried to save herself and her boy by giving up her cousin did you come forward and admit to the knowledge of Ms. Stackhouse's whereabouts. Why would that be, Mr. Compton?"

"Sookie has enough to deal with since encountering my kind, doctor. I'd hope that she would be of no use to you if we found others with more potent blood lines. Sookie, after all is of the same blood as her cousin Hadley and you already said that you can't use her. Besides, I'd promised to protect Ms. Stackhouse and keep her out of Vampire business."

"But this isn't Vampire business, Mr. Compton. It is the human races' business. Keeping her a secret from us is not part of the deal," she says to me.

"Sookie was mine to protect. A promise was made and a deal was struck. She kept her side of the bargain and I kept mine."

"You have promised to protect her even though she was with another?" she raises an eyebrow at me. "That is very gallant for a Vampire. One would think you care about her."

"Vampires honor our deals, doctor," I growl at this human. My patience is lost now. She is goading me and it will end now. "My connections and investigations gave you ample numbers of HalflingsHalflings to meet your goals. You didn't need Sookie."

"Or the other one in that little town," she moves to take a folder from one of the guards. "The sheriff's daughter, if I'm not mistaken. You failed to tell us about her as well."

I walk toward her. "She didn't have her blood tested," I say. "It is my understanding that Andy refused to bring her to the gathering or to have anything to do with the program. He wished to have his daughter and himself left alone. I still believe this is a free country, doctor. The man has a right to protect his family any way he sees fit."

"Yes, well," she sighs. "Be that as it may," she looks at the file again and shakes her head. "You seem to believe that you have a say on what information is pertinent and what isn't, Mr. Compton. Intel you give us seems to be spotty at best. We've needed to resort in finding out information on our own, it would seem. One would think you weren't genuine in agreeing to assist us in this project. Perhaps this is something that would best be discussed with your handlers."

I dismiss her threats. If she thinks that her kind have the strength or the power to control me, they are sadly mistaken. Oh, they can send me to my final death but other than that, they really can't do anything to me. Besides, they have already seen the type of information and items I can procure for them. They will not want to lose such a skilled ally as myself.

"The child is too young and too weak to help you, doctor. The Sheriff lost his other daughters not too long ago. It would be evil to take his only living relative from him." I move in front of the good doctor. "She is all he has left."

"We are not doing anything we don't need too, Mr. Compton. The sacrifice of the few is for the greater good of all," she smiles. "We are all making sacrifices in this, wouldn't you agree? We all need to do what we can for your kind and ours, Mr. Compton. That is what you told us when you made your deal, is it not?" she tilts her head to the side. "You told us that we needed to band together in order to eradicate this epidemic. You convinced all the upper brass of your sincerity and desire to help us anyway you could. You told us that we needed you to find these HalflingsHalflings and Faeries as you call them," she pauses. "Or am I getting my information incorrectly."

I remember the day I made this stupid deal. Really, it was the only thing I could do at the time. I was given very few options other than to assist them. If I refused, it would be my true death for killing the Governor. It didn't matter that the crazy, vengeful human was the reason we were in this mess to begin with. It didn't matter that it was he who decided to kill Vampires with the True Blood. Okay, so it was my idea to bomb the factories but it was the Governor that initiated the epidemic. That decision was why we were in this mess and I did what I needed to do to try to save my kind from him. But the humans didn't seem to see it that way. It was help them or be destroyed. I picked the only choice that was viable.

My intention was to keep Sookie as far away from all of this as possible. My edict was simple. Find and acquire as many Fae as I could to assist the humans in finding a cure. The job would be easy, I thought. After all, I'm good at tracking things down but as I learned quickly, Halflings are rare; especially those that show signs of the light of the Fae. It wasn't easy, but I was determined to find other Halflings to satisfy the human's needs. I tried to keep them out of the Louisiana area but when I heard they found Hadley, I knew it was only a matter of time before she used her knowledge about Sookie and what she could do save herself and her child. That was when I knew I had to act. It wouldn't be easy to convince all these humans that I could deliver Sookie to them and that she would come if she thought she would be safe with me. I know that she'll be mad but I'm hoping, in time, she will understand that this was the only way to keep her safe. In time, she will see that I did all of this to protect her. If not, there is always a secondary plan. If she can't see reason, she will come to understand that this is the only way to keep little Hunter out of harm's way. I know that she will never want anything to happen to her kin. Regardless of how she came to be in the situation she finds herself, she will never allow anything to happen to him. If rationality doesn't calm her, her sense of family and loyalty will.

Either way, she'll understand or at the very least acquiesce to the needs of the humans. It really was the best deal I could make in light of a very bad situation. I had to make the humans believe that I would give my precious southern belle to them. Sometimes I wonder how theses human believe all that they do.

The good doctor's phone rings and I watch her as she answers it. "Did you get her?" she asks without so much of a hello to the caller.

"There's a situation," the man on the other end says.

"What's the situation?" Stork asks. "She's a teenage girl for god's sakes."

"Well, there, there was a Vampire guarding the house," he begins. "There wasn't anything we could do."

"What do you mean?" Stork asks looking at me. "Where is she?"

"We, we don't know where she went, Doctor. We have the father in protective custody but the girl, the girl and the Vampire are in the wind. We tried to use the stun gun on her and the silver bullets but she was too fast. Our men didn't have time to do much more than watch her as she got away. Before they knew what was going on she'd disappeared."

She sighs pinching the bridge of her nose. I notice that she seems to do this when she is overwhelmed. Could there be a crack in the good doctor's façade of perfect stoicism?

"Bring the father in. We will talk to him at the facility. Make sure he's comfortable and I'll be there shortly," she says.

She hangs up without saying goodbye and looks at me. "This is turning out to be one shitty day, Vampire."

"You wouldn't know who was there with the Halfling would you, Mr. Compton?" she asks me.

"Why would I know who was with the Sheriff and his daughter?" I ask her.

"That isn't an answer. Where is that Vampire who lives in your house?" she asks.

"Many Vampires come and go from my estate, doctor. You will have to be more specific," I try to keep a straight face.

"If I find you had anything to do with this Compton," she moves a little closer to me. "I will personally stick the stake in you myself."

She doesn't wait for me to say anything else before she turns and walks out the door. Funny, she reminds me of another uppity bitch that was given too much power. Stork better hope that she doesn't meet the same end Nan found herself in. It would be awfully messy and I'm not looking forward to cleaning up any more messes.

As we wait at the bar, I can't help but wonder what the hell is going on. All intel collected over the past several weeks all indicated that Northman was on his way back to Louisiana. The sources of this information were very diverse but they all said the same thing. He was returning to the area and had a reason to do so.

There was only one reason I could think of that would bring him back here. That reason could only be Sookie Stackhouse. I'm certain that he came for her but the reason for his appearance now is highly suspect. After all this time, to come back now should have many, not just me, concerned. Either he'd heard about what the Government is doing to find a cure for Hep-V or he himself has need of our young feisty Faerie.

Regardless of the reason, there is no way he can be permitted to interact with Sookie again. The last time was a disaster and most confusing for Sookie. I honestly think she believes that she loved that monster. How, after everything she's learned about ingesting Vampire blood could she possibly think that her feelings for that Viking were ever anything but a side effect of the blood? True, she'd taken my blood as well, but I felt the connection between us the moment I laid eyes on her in that bar so long ago. That night was magical in so many ways and was before she had any of my blood.

No, Sookie and I are destined and I'll be damned if I allow that Vampire anywhere near her again. He loves playing with lives and feelings. Hell, I should have made my undead existence easier and ordered his death long ago. I should have never spared him after he was cursed by that witch. I should have staked him myself and been done with it. But, the fact of the matter is I needed him to stay in Louisiana after I became King. Eric is strong, cunning and knowledgeable about everything in the area as well as others. I hate to admit it and would never admit it him, but I needed Eric Northman to run my kingdom. Without him, who knows how many Vampires would have walked away from this area? Granted, many of his most faithful have departed to parts unknown but it doesn't change the fact that Eric Northman has always had his hand on the pulse of the area. It would have been foolish to dispose of him when he is so valuable. However, his usefulness has been outweighed by the damage he can do. I will not hesitate to end him at the first chance I get.

I look around the bar again. Regardless of the Intel we received, it is evident that Eric isn't here nor has he been here for some time. But regardless of that fact, I'm sure that it was Pam driving the car that we saw on the highway driving away from Sookie's place. Though, I didn't see anyone else in the car with her, Pam could have been informing Sookie of the situation. She could have been transporting Eric in hiding. Though, I've never known that Vampire to hide from anything. He could have been flying. Yes, that is more likely. Yes, having Pam act as chauffer for that Viking would be a miss-use of time and energy. Then again, I doubt Pam would be out at Sookie's place without direct orders from her maker. She has always hated Sookie and I don't see that changing. Unless I'm completely mistaken, there is no way she was going there for a social call. Something is not making sense in all of this and I'm not sure what logical reasoning in all of this is. If Eric was at the Farmhouse, we would have known already. If he was here, we would have known it the moment we arrived here. If Sookie had left the Farmhouse, we would have seen her car. What was Pam doing there other than relaying information to Sookie? There would be no reason for Sookie to leave with Pam. After what happen at that magic shop, Sookie wouldn't trust Pam.

We wait at the bar another hour before I hear three cars pull into the parking lot. I take a deep breath, analyzing the air around the bar but I don't smell Sookie with them. I shouldn't really be surprised. If I think about it, Sookie would protect herself even if she didn't trust Pam. Once I saw who was in the car, I should have known that our chances of taking Sookie in tonight were slim to none. I should have known that Sookie would have done the exact opposite of what I'd presume her to do. She must have been in that car with Pam but how did we miss her? Pam must have known all about the plan for tonight but how?

In any event, why wouldn't they head to Fangtasia? If we could just find them perhaps we could make a deal to give up Sookie. After all, Eric has always been a pragmatic and practical Vampire. He above anyone would see reason in all of this and agree to give Sookie over to the humans. He would see it as a way to keep in control of the situation. Much like I did. In many ways, we think alike.

I watch as Alcide is the first through the doors followed by all the little humans.

"Well?" I ask him.

He shakes his head and puts his hands on his hips as he comes to a stop in front of me. "She's gone. I smelled a Vampire and Sookie in the house and it was fresh. I looked around and a lot of her things are missing. ."

"She packed?" I asked him. "How did she have time to do that?"

"I don't know but other than clothes and some personal stuff, Sookie didn't take much. If she packed, it was in a hurry."

"She wouldn't have had time to pack unless she knew what was about to happen," I pause. "Are you sure of what is missing?" I ask him.

From the time she left us at the bar and the time we passed the hummer on the road was less than an hour. Surely she couldn't pack much in that time.

"I'm sure," he says. "But the funny thing is what she left. She didn't take anything of value. None of the big price items and jewelry that was her grandmother's is missing. I checked the safe in her room. She even left her passport and the little bit of cash she keeps in the house. I'm not sure what she's doing but I don't think she had a plan, Bill. She definitely wasn't planning on going far. She can't get out of the country without her passport. Most of the roads out of the area are already covered by the military. She didn't think this through, Bill. She must have panicked. There is no way she could, you know, do that thing again so soon. I don't think she even knew she could do that much less control it."

I laugh at his assumption and shake my head. "She's with Pam," I turn to walk back to the bar resting my hands on it. "She could be anywhere."

"Did you get the plates on the car? We can track that?" Alcide asks me.

"We have already run the plates, Sir," a soldier that has been quiet up until now and playing with his laptop says. "The plates were stolen. Unless Mr. Compton here got the numbers mixed up."

"I'm a Vampire," I growl at him. "You don't think I can see in the fucking dark?"

"Still," he says and looks away from me. "We weren't prepared for any kind of opposition and were definitely not prepared for her to not be where she was supposed to be," Tisdale pipes in. "We lost the car in the woods. We weren't equipped for her to go off road."

"That is correct, Sir," the solider says. "I've been determining the trajectory of her path and the limited time before sunrise hindering her travelling distance. Even with moving at velocity that would be dangerous in those woods, she couldn't make it more than fifty miles before she would have to seek shelter."

"Unless she has a way to conceal herself in the car and allow Ms. Stackhouse to drive," the Lieutenant interjects.

"Well, that's conditional on if she went with the Vampire willingly, Sir," the solider says.

"You think Pam took Sookie by force?" Alcide moves forward.

"That would depend," he replies. "Was there a sign of a struggle?"

Alcide shakes his head. "No, no sign of any problems like that. Even if Pam was waiting for Sookie when she, well when she arrived, they weren't there for very long. The only thing I smelled differently was this sweet smell that Bill and I smelled after Sookie disappeared from the parking lot."

"And you are sure that Ms. Stackhouse teleported herself. Nothing else compelled her to move? Perhaps a Vampire took her and you didn't see?" Tisdale asks.

I growl again but say nothing.

"I don't know," Alcide shakes his head again. "It's possible but I don't know of any Vampire that would be able to move that fast and I don't know of any other kind of species that could compel Sookie to move like she did. At this point, I don't really think it matters how she got there. The truth of it is that she was at the Farmhouse. I smelled Sookie, and who I think was Pam in the house. I didn't catch the scent of anyone other than me and Jason in the house. I didn't smell anything outside either."

"You are certain no one else has been on the property?" Tisdale asks. "Don't you think that a little odd?" he opens a file he has in front of him. "Intel suggests that she has two Vampire friends and several others in town. One would suspect that you would be able to identify others."

"No," Alcide glares at the Lieutenant. "We don't get many visitors. Sookie knows how I feel about those, well, those Vampires being around the house. She sees them when she comes into Shreveport. As for the others, well, she hasn't been mingling with them for some time."

The way he says this makes me pause. Sookie has always liked mingling at the bar. It was one of the reasons she loved working there. Sookie wasn't one to be alone too often. I will have to remember to discuss this with him at a later date.

"And nothing else was missing from the home?" Tisdale continues.

"Other than her clothes, nothing else was missing."

"Fifty miles isn't that far," Tisdale turns back to the other solider. "We should be able to grid that off before sunrise."

"Even if Pam didn't have Sookie drive," I interject. "Fifty miles in different direction is a lot of ground. Pam lived in this area for many years. She has friends and associates all over the place. They could be anywhere."

"Perhaps they didn't drive," the soldier at the laptop interjects. "We haven't taken into consideration the air transport in the area."

I spin around to look at him. "What did you say?" I ask him.

"The airports?" he looks from me to Tisdale. When his senior officer nods for him to continue he directs his answer to me. "There are five inside the travel grid. Two in Shreveport, one in Texas, one in Monroe and one in Alexandria," he points to his screen. We all move to look at what he is pointing to. "All of them are well within the fifty miles radius of the Vampire's last known location. In fact, she may have moved to one of them after going off road. It is quite possible to access several of the facilities by maneuvering through the woods."

"Which is the closest airport to where she turned off?" Tisdale asks.

"Monroe," the solider zooms in on the area on the map.

"Is it an active airfield?" I ask him.

He nods. "It's a private airfield but it's big enough for a full size plane."

"There is none closer?" Alcide asks.

"No Sir," the soldier shakes his head and then changes the view on the screen to show another area.

"The ones in Shreveport are too industrial and the one in Alexandria is smaller and is used more for crop planes that passenger type. I don't think she would try for Texas. It wouldn't be logical to travel that far before dawn. There are too many variables to consider and I'm not certain that this Vampire you saw would risk it."

Tisdale nods. "I agree," he turns to me. "It would be the safest way to depart the area. Unless there is another way you would expect this Vampire to travel?"

I shake my head. "No," I pause. "You are correct. If I was trying to get out of the area in the quickest manner possible I would try to fly out."

"Well, I'm so thankful that you agree with my observation," he says and then points to the men that walked in with Alcide. "We have a situation, gentlemen. We have a Vampire that has taken possession of a valuable asset and this situation needs to be rectified in the most expedient manner." He moves to stand in front of the men. "From information gathered regarding this club and the Vampire owners we know that this Pamela Ravenscroft has ties to the area," Tisdale looks back at me. "Go round up the two Vampires connected with this Vampire," he turns to the man on the computer. "Find out what you can on this Vampire and her maker," he turns to me. "His name is Northman, is it not?" he asks me.

I nod without saying anything.

He smirks at me. "Where would you suggest we pick up these two Vampires," he waves his hand around. "Obviously they are not managing their bar this evening."

I stifle a growl but it's Alcide who answers

"They should still be at the event in town," he says to the Lieutenant.

"Right," Tisdale nods again and turns his attention back to his troops. "The rest of you will be coming with me to the airport. We will be going in blind people. So keep your wits about you. From what we have gathered on her, this Vampire can be deadly. She is immaterial but remember the worth of the possession she has in her grasp. We want to prevent blood shed if we can."

"Wait a moment," I say as everyone starts to move. "Why are you rounding up Tara and Willa?" I ask him. "They have nothing to do with this."

"For strategy, Mr. Compton or didn't they teach you that when you were at war."

"We aren't at war, Lieutenant," I say to him.

"You are stupid and naïve if that is what you think," he says and moves to leave the bar.

Alcide and I wait until all the humans follow the Lieutenant out before we even look at one another. Once they are out and I hear the cars pull away from the bar, I turn to look at Alcide.

"What do you know?" I ask him.

"What do you mean what do I know? This was your party, Vampire. It looks to me that this whole thing has turned into a complete cluster fuck. What the hell do we do now?" Alcide moves closer to me.

I move closer to him. "What do you think, Wolf," I growl at him. We find Sookie. It's the only way we can survive."

"How do you plan on doing that?" he asks me. "If Pam actually has her then you know where they're headed. You and I are totally fucked if he finds out what we were doing to her."

"We haven't done anything to her," I say to him. "We did what we had to do to keep her safe. Eric would have done the same thing. You know that as well as I. Eric Northman cares about Eric Northman and nothing more.

He shakes his head at me. "It doesn't explain how we are going to find her."

"We need to find a trail that leads to him," I say to him. "We find Eric, we'll find Sookie. Then we can play to his practical side. Even if he did have her taken, he'll not want to go up against the human government. It is far too dangerous. The last time Eric went up against them, it cost him his sister. He will not wish to lose any other ground where they are concerned. He'll see reason in what we are doing and give her to us."

"You are assuming a lot," Alcide says coming up to stand beside me. "Northman is unpredictable at best but he's a good businessman. He may try to cut you out of the deal if he sees an opportunity for himself."

"He will not want to deal with all of this," I wave my hand around. "When he realizes what is at stake, he'll deal with us."

"Now, try to find out all you can before I rise. Once I do, we will start our own search," I say to him

"We shouldn't have betrayed her," Alcide says and goes to walk out the door.

I am tired of thinking about all of this. It was the only way to keep me on this earth and keep Sookie relatively safe. It was the best I could do and I will not apologize for it.

I wait for Alcide to walk out before I make my way to the door and lock it. Walking to the back of the bar, I maneuver to the door to the right of the dance floor where I know the coffins are kept. It's too close to dawn for me to go with the humans or to even make it back to my home. I can only hope that when I rise, there will be better news and Sookie is safe and secure with Alcide. At the very least, she'll be away from Pam. Right now, I'll be lucky to live out the week if I don't find a way to procure her for the humans. The only card I have to play is the one where I'm controlling Sookie. Without her, I might as well walk out into the parking lot and wait for the sun to rise. I'm sure that it would be the quickest way for me to meet my end. It would definitely be better than what the human authorities have in store for me.

I shiver at the thought of meeting my final death. They may not be able to capture me for long, but I'd suspect that once they had me, they'd do everything in their power to cause me pain; long, dragged out pain.

We have to find her. After everything I've been through, I've no intention on meeting my true death any time soon. I'm not the best procurer in the area for nothing. I need to find her and it must be before the humans do. Otherwise, they will have no use for me. I need to do this and do it quickly

I close the door to what could only be called a confined room and secure it and make my preparations to rest for the day.

Once I get into the coffin and wait for dawn to take me, I have one final thought.

_Tomorrow will be better. It just has to be._

Jessica's POV

I land just outside the house I thought I'd never step foot in again. Looking up at it, I takeit in and can't help but think that it seems smaller somehow; smaller and weathered down. As all the memories come rushing back to me I can't help, for some reason, to somehow feel an overwhelming emotion while looking at the dwelling. I thought I'd always feel hatred, pain and disgust toward anything to do with this place. Now, I can't describe it but it is powerful.

I shake myself out of my recent memory but to no avail.

Taking a breath I don't need, I attempt to steady myself at the onslaught of emotions now bombarding me. They keep coming fast and furious until they end on the last time I'd seen them. It was not the prettiest of situations and not exactly my finest moment.

I knew that my parents were dead. Bill had to take care of the situation I found myself in with my parents. I never blamed him for the destruction of my family. We were broken beyond measure for some time. Bill just ended the pain we all felt by the hand of my father. I know that Bill bought the house for me after my little sister was sent to live with a distant aunt that hadn't spoken to my mother in well over six months before her death. Even though I knew the outcome of the situation, I never asked how they died nor did I want to know. Whatever Bill did he did for me and for that I'm grateful. It didn't stop the waves of anxiety and fear that now poured over me. I close my eyes and willed it all to pass.

"Where are we," Adilyn asks as she turns around to look me.

"Somewhere safe," I say and make my way up the stairs.

"What about my dad?" the Fae Halfling asks me. "Who were those men, what did they want?"

"Adilyn I'm sure your father is fine. They said they wanted you. I couldn't let them take you. I'm sorry."

We walk into the house and I lock the door behind us.

"But who were they?" she asks again.

"Look," I turn to her. "I know this is not where you want to be and I'm a little scared to have you with me myself but until I hear from Bill, this is how it's going to be for a while." I walk into the sitting room and motion for her to sit on the couch while I go to sit beside her. "Those men back there," I point to the window. "They were going to take you, Adilyn. They were going to take you and do experiments on you. Bill told me that if they came for you, to run with you. I'm not strong enough to carry you and Andy. I'm really sorry but I couldn't let them get you. They would have taken you and done things to you. I don't really know what things but Bill promised they wouldn't find you here," I stand and move away from her.

"I don't understand," she says.

"I don't understand much either," I say to her. "All I know is that they found out what Sookie was and Bill was trying to do what was best for her. But you," I look at her. "You're too young to be in a place like that," I look out the window remember my time in that white tomb. If Vampires could get goosebumps I'd have them right about now.

"I don't understand," she says again. "What place?"

I shake my head. "He said it was like a place that they put us when they were rounding up Vampires. It's a terrible place, Adilyn. I couldn't let that happen to you. Promise me, promise me you will stay here so I can protect you."

"You're scaring me," she says and moves farther into the corner of the couch.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to. But this is serious. We can't let them find you. You're too young to be in a place like that. Promise me that you will stay here until we know it's safe?"

"What…what about my dad? What about Holly?" she asks.

"They don't want them. They only want those like you and Sookie," I say to her.

"Halflings?" she tilts her head to the side.

"Or more," I sigh. "But I don't know why. All I know is it's about what Bill was trying to have Professor Takahashi do before all this shit happened. All I know is that he said we needed to keep you safe. He would take care of Sookie but it was up to me to keep you safe."

"So," she sits a little straighter. "When you came tonight it wasn't only about the bad Vampires?" she nods as if answering her own question.

I shake my head. "No," is say softly. "It was because Bill thought they'd find you and he needs to stay close to Sookie."

"Sookie is with Alcide," she says. "He's handsome and nice. He can protect her," she nods.

"Not against this sweetie, not this time," I look at the clock on the wall. "Come on; let me get you to bed before I need to go to ground. Promise me you'll stay in the house until sunset. No one knows about this place. It was my parents' house. Those men won't be able to find you here. Bill made this a safe house for us. You will be quite hidden here until we find out what's going on."

"What about my dad?" she says again.

I forget how young this girl really is. Her dad has been her only constant and in truth she is not even been on this planet for a year. This has to be tough on her. I try to smile but I haven't really perfected the art of deception yet.

"As soon as I hear from Bill, we will find a way to get in touch with Andy and let him know you are safe," I say softly. "Don't worry," I say as I hold out my hand to her. "We aren't going to let those humans get you."

Something changes in her expression. I wish I could read people better.

"No," she says, shaking her head. "No, I know you won't."

She reaches her hand out and I take it in mine. Rising, I lead her through the small living area and up the stairs to what used to be my sister's room. I show her where everything is and am pleased and proud of my maker for making sure there is clothing and things for Adilyn's human needs.

The tour doesn't take long. Once I make sure that she's settled, I make my way downstairs, through the new hidden door in the pantry and down to hidden room in the basement. Something else my Maker has added to the old house. It does make sense, however. This isn't like Fangtasia where the basement is encased in reinforced steel and the human would have to have a death-wish to enter it during the day. No, this is a small house on a street with dozens of other little houses. There is nothing keeping anyone out if they wanted to get in and having a Vampire down for the day in plain view would be stupid. If Bill has taught me anything it is that you need to keep yourself as protected as you can while you are dead for the day. It is really the only time we are vulnerable.

Once I'm in the room and I'm sure the door is secure, I take out my phone and send a message to Bill in code. He'll know what I had to do by now, no doubt, and will want to know that my mission was successful and that I'm safe. We've gone through the plan so many times but still, things can and will go wrong when you are dealing with humans. It's just the way it is.

Setting the phone aside, I change quickly, grabbing a bag of blood we have in the freezer down here, I heat it quickly. Once it' ready, I don't bother with transferring it to a glass and drink it down before repeating the processes several times. With a half Faerie in the house it's important that I don't go hungry. That was the number one thing Bill made me promise him. Neither of us wanted a repeat of the last time I was with the Halfling sisters. Granted, I have a lot more control now but the truth of the matter is that Halflings still smell very good. Even Sookie smells extra sweet to me and she is a lot less Fae than Adilyn. Though she too has a lot more control of her powers now, you still can't be too careful. Bill told me that for some reason the young Halfling smells extra sweet to me as Sookie smells extra sweet to him. He said it must be some sort of a connection we have with them but I'm not too sure about that. I mean, Bill loves Sookie. That's their connection. I feel guilty for what I did to Adilyn's sisters. The two can't possibly be the same.

Drinking the last of the blood I sigh and hope that it will be enough to control the hunger. Climbing into my travel coffin, I look one more time at my phone before the day takes me away. I haven't heard from Bill but he cautioned me that this too would not be a cause for alarm. If everything went as planned, he's with Sookie and I'm sure he is explaining everything to her before he too will have to meet the day. I don't believe she will be very grateful at first, but I'm certain she will see that my Maker has done everything he can to keep us all safe. He loves her. That should be what matters to her.

As the first rays of sun make it over the horizon, I smile thinking that once this is all over, my Maker will finally be happy once more.


	3. Episode 3

Episode 3 – Sun sets on the horizon.

We aren't in the air long when the flight attendant, Claire, informs the Vampires on board that the travel coffins are ready for them in the back compartment whenever they were ready. She smiles at all three of the women and then goes to busy herself in the kitchen area.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Willa says looking at me and then Tara. "What if something happens?"

"It will be fine," I say rubbing her arm. "Pam has traveled like this more times than she would like to count," I look up at said Vampire.

She smirks at me. "No lady likes to be reminded of her age. A Southern Belle as you should know discussing such things is bad form."

The little banter between us didn't seem to calm Willa's nerves. I am about to try to give her some words of encouragement when Tara takes her by the hand, whispers something in her ear and leads her to the back of the plane.

Willa takes one last look at me. I smile and she returns it before they both disappear into a room. I watch the hallway for a few moments while Pam goes to speak with Claire regarding our travel time and confirming with the woman her orders. Without thinking, I'd read the woman not soon after we boarded. I really couldn't help it. She is a rather loud broadcaster so it didn't take much effort to learn that she is indeed devoted to both Eric and Pam. Why she is so devoted is not quite clear but she feels she owes them a great deal for something and is very happy to assist with this journey as well as others she's been asked to participate in. I can tell just by her thought patterns that she hasn't been glamoured which I'm pleased to hear.

When Pam was finishes talking to Claire, she walks over to me.

"Everything is going as planned, Sookie," she says to me. "We will land in Nova Scotia to refuel and then we will be in the air again."

"They haven't suspected that we flew out of the area?" I ask her.

She gives me a smile that eerily reminds me of Eric. "The pilot put in a flight plan just before takeoff that will indicate our final destination to be a remote airfield in Wyoming. Even if Compton and the others get a clue and figure out how we departed Louisiana, they will be led on a wild goose chase clear across the country."

I nod and say nothing. I'm still in a little shock and reeling from all that I've learned tonight. The fact that they are logging fake flight plans to cover our tracks just goes to show how much planning went into this little extraction I am currently finding myself in the middle of. Yes, extraction is exactly the word to use. Thank you Arlene for your word of the day calendars that you always give me. I truly would be lost without it.

"Good," she says nodding her head once. "She," Pam points over to Claire. "Will tell you when you should prepare for the landing. There will be no need to get off the plane as we will not be on the ground for very long. Once the pilot has us in the air once more, we will be starting our final leg of our journey."

"What will I need to do about you all once we land?" Ask her remembering my last trip with Bill and all that went into transporting him.

"You will not have to worry about all of that," she waves her hand. "Before we arrive, the three of us will be up and with you. Everything has been accounted for, Sookie. We don't anticipate any surprises but please do what the pilot says if anything unexpected occurs." It takes a moment for what she says to sink in.

"Wait a minute," I say holding up my hand. "What do you mean you all will be up before we land? It's going to take us another day to reach our destination?" Where are we going, Outer Mongolia?

She smirks. "Well yes and no," she says and makes her way back to the travel coffins without giving me any further information.

"Damn vamps and their famous non-answers," I mumble to myself.

"I heard that," she says. "And it isn't a non-answer if you know what you are asking," I can almost hear the smirk on her face. "You know, it's fun to see you get all flustered. It's almost as much funs as it is to see you get all heated when you think Eric is being high-handed."

I huff and cross my arms.

"Oh, what's the matter, Sookie? Don't you like surprises?" she asks me.

"I think I've gotten enough surprises in the past few hours to last me a life time, thank you very much," I say to her.

"Come now," she smirks, "don't think of it like that. Every girl likes surprises," she blows me a kiss. "See you soon our southern flower."

With that, Pam heads down the hall toward the back of the plane and is gone.

"Miss Stackhouse," Claire says to me.

"Yes?" I turn to look at her and plaster a smile on my face. It isn't what I'd call my crazy Sookie smile but it's closer than I'd care to admit. I hope the smile is convincing enough to not make her worry or offend her in any way. The reality of it all is that I'm too worn out to put in much more effort.

"Would you like something to eat or drink," she motions to the small kitchenette, "Or would you prefer to rest? The couch is very comfortable. I'd offer you the back bedroom but that is where we setup the travel coffins."

"I would have thought they would be in the, well the baggage area?" I say as a question. I don't want to insult the girls or this lovely lady but that is where I thought they put the coffins when traveling. At least that is where they were put when I traveled to Dallas. The thought of Vampires being carted around like luggage didn't sit well with me then.

"Normally, they would be but," she nods in agreement. "But, Mr. Northman wanted the three of them," she motions to the hallway, "to be as close to you as we could get them just in case we encountered an unforeseen problem along the way. He implied that both you and Miss Pam would know what to do if anything unsettling occurred in transit."

"Yeah, give them my blood so they could walk in the sun," I mumble thinking about the last time any of them needed my help. Then again, that isn't exactly true. They needed Warlow's help which means they needed his blood not mine. In the wake of all that was happening and the panic they were all in to go rescue everyone, no one had ever thought to ask me for my blood. But then again, I'm not a full Fae like Warlow was. My blood wouldn't pack nearly as big of a punch. But it did allow Eric and Russell to walk in the sun for a short time. That is saying something if I do say so myself.

Thinking of Warlow brought up some strange memories and feelings if I'm honest with myself. There is something that has been bothering me regarding that Faepire. Or more precisely, I'm bothered about the way he died. When I threw my light at him, nothing happened. But when Jason staked Warlow, he melted into some really weird goo. If truth be told, it was much different than a normal Vampire. Perhaps the Fae blood in him prevented Warlow from garnering the full effect of my little light ball. Maybe the Fae can't use their gifts on one another. That is something I'll need to speak to…who the hell am I going to speak to about Faerie crap? The only one around is Niall and he seems to be mute on the subject of my gifts. I don't even know what a Fae really can do and what they can't. Niall has been strangely absent for the past several months and hasn't brought up much about who I am or anything about my light the last few times he has come to visit. In fact, the last several times he's come to see me, we've talked about anything but my little quirks. It's almost as if he has been ignoring the situation. Like it is that easy. It took me a whole month to get the remnants of Warlow out of the tile grout. I did like that orange liquor drink he brought with him the last few times. It was thicker than anything I'd drank before and the sweetness was almost like tasting the sun itself. I'd wondered about it but he told me that he found it on his travels. Considering that Niall is almost as old as Warlow was, I couldn't even comprehend where it had come from. Yet another thing that Niall was vague about. I know I should have been more curious about the whole thing but it was really good stuff and afterwards I'd sleep like the dead. Something else I had a hard time doing after the whole incident in the cemetery. I was actually grateful for the sleep.

"What was that?" she asks me taking me out of my inner monologue.

"Nothing," I shake my head and getting back to the conversation at hand. Lordy, I'm being so flighty. "Um, could I get something to drink and then maybe I'll rest for a bit? How long will it be until we arrive in Nova Scotia?"

"Not long," she says and goes to the refrigerator in the kitchenette and returns with a bottle of water and a glass of ice. "We should be touching down in less than three hours. The tailwinds are in our favor so it won't be longer. Our time on the ground should be minimal," she continues. "I would suspect that it won't take more than thirty minutes to get everything done."

"I didn't know planes could be fueled so quickly," I open the bottle and pour it over the ice.

But then again, what do I know? The only frame of reference I have for such things is stuff I've seen on TV. But it always seems to take the airports a long time to get a plane ready for flight.

"Normally, it would take an hour or two," she responds. "However, from what I was told, we are meeting a friend of Mr. Northman's there. He owns a private airfield and he'll be assisting us on this portion of our journey. There won't be any wait and that speeds up the processes considerably."

"Will we be taking on any new passengers while we are on the ground?" I ask as I take a sip of the water.

"Not this trip," she smiles at me. "Mr. Northman was eager to get you to safety as quickly as he could. I'm sure that there we will be other trips in the upcoming months but this time you were our only concern and one that Mr. Northman emphasized is of the highest priority as well as the greatest caution."

Deciding to address the first part of her explanation I lean forward in my seat.

"Why would Eric be sending you on any other trips?" I ask.

I can't exactly be special if Eric was sending his staff to pick up other people. What would he need with all these people? Who could he be bringing to him? The thought of whom or what he is acquiring sends a little chill up my spine and does something strange low in my belly. Up until now, I've never given much thought to all the women that threw themselves at him, but now I can't help it. Okay, that's a lie. I have thought from time to time about all of those women at Fangtasia not to mention that woman I saw him with down in the basement but I'd quickly dismiss the thoughts. After all, I was with Bill at the time and I had no right to concern myself with his activities. But then came Mississippi and then his curse. After that it was hard to keep the thoughts away. Even when I walked out on him and Bill after we dealt with the witches, I'd think about him with others and it made me, well, sad I guess. I really had no right to be. I was with Alcide. I couldn't very well expect Eric to pine away for me especially when I thought I'd never see him again. That just wasn't right. I had been successful in hiding my thoughts and feelings regarding Eric for some time. That is, up until today.

I think about these trips again. What if he's bringing all the women that he desires pleasure from to him. What if this has nothing to do with Bill, Alcide or their tie to a rather large government conspiracy? What if this was a way for Eric to bring me too him and nothing more? But that is so silly. Eric wouldn't go through all of this just to bring me to him. Eric could have any woman in the world. He didn't need to play games to get a companion.

Swallowing deeply I will away the fear and anxiety that these thoughts give me and hope upon hope that Claire has a good enough reason for why she or others in Eric's employ would be taking any other trips to acquire people for the rather large Vampire.

"Well, he sends us to help those he finds like my son," she moves to sit beside me. "Like you, my boy is considered a Halfling too." She smiles at me.

I examine her appearance a little closer now that she's so close to me. She can't be any older than Hadley was the last time I'd seen her. That should put her in her late twenties or maybe early thirties at most. Unless she had him very young, her son can't be any older than Hunter, I'd suspect. .

"Your son?" I ask sitting a little closer to the edge of my seat.

She nods. "Mr. Northman's associate came to visit us a little more than a month ago and explained everything to me," she smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes. However, the emotion is genuine. I don't know how I know but I do. The woman may not be happy about the situation but she as grateful that Eric found her. .

"If you don't mind me asking," I pause. "Even after you learned what was going on, what would possess you to put yourself and your son in the hands of a Vampire?" I ask her.

Surely knowing what her son was, she would be terrified at the thought of having her Fae smelling son anywhere near Vampires. I mean, I saw what happened when Eric smelled Claudine. Though she was a full Fae, I know that even with the little Fae blood I have, I smell sweet to Vampires. I wouldn't even think of putting a child in danger of getting drained.

"I'll try to explain as best I can," she says and I wait for her to begin. "The story isn't really that exciting," she shrugs, "but it's important that you understand that I'm here because I want to be and that I believe that it's the safest place for my son."

I nod for her to continue.

"Mr. Northman's associate is a very nice man by the name of Mr. Barrack. One afternoon, he showed up at my home in a little town outside of Rochester, New York where my son and I were living. At first I was hesitant to even speak to him. I mean who shows up at your door these days without being either invited or needing something from you? Mr. Barrack is a very large man and I can tell you that I wasn't intending on letting him into my home and was about thirty seconds away from calling the police when he said something about my son's special characteristics and well, his gifts. Until then, I hadn't spoken about Spencer's uniqueness to anyone. I had worked very hard to keep it all a secret since before I even had Spencer. I didn't have anyone close to me to tell and I didn't really know who I could trust. We'd only arrived in the small town a few weeks before and since his birth, I'd moved around a lot in attempts to avoid any unnecessary questions or prying neighbors not to mention, being found by others."

"I paused when he mentioned Spencer's uniqueness; I thought I should at least hear him out. I didn't know what Mr. Barrack was but considering it was just after noon, I knew he wasn't a Vampire. Once he convinced me that he wasn't there to sell me anything, and that he indeed understood about my son, he pulled something out of his bag and presented me with a copy of a file that Mr. Northman and his staff had acquired regarding my son and his father."

"His father was, or rather is…" I trail off.

"He is Fae," she sighs. "Believe me, I didn't know who or what he was when I first met him."

"Then you didn't know when you had Spencer what he was?" I ask her.

"Oh, I knew what he'd be but I'm getting ahead of myself," she smiles at me.

I nod and take another sip of my water.

"I met Spencer's father at a bar when I was living in New York City just after my twentieth birthday. I know that sounds so bad. I was never one to meet let alone pick up anyone in a bar. But I had been in New York for some time already and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about living in a big city," she smiles softly and I nod my head.

I understand the pull of a big city when you have grown up without that that sort of excitement. I myself had wondered what it would be like to live in such a place. But I had Gran, the farmhouse and of course Jason to think about. I couldn't very well pack up and run off on a whim. I had responsibilities to those around me and just couldn't leave them. But then again, isn't that exactly what I did tonight?

I sigh as she continues; trying to focus on her story and not the guilt I'm now feeling.

"You see, my family comes from a small town in Minnesota. I'd completed my associate's degree at the local college and was itching to go anywhere away from that small little town. The day after graduation, I took the first bus out east, found a job, friends, and a place to live. I thought I was living the dream," she pauses and I'm assuming she's remembering that time of her life. "I didn't go out all that much to bars. First I didn't have the means and later, I was really too busy and tired after working all day to stay out all night. It's funny, I'd gone out more in Minnesota then I did in the Big Apple," she laughs and I join her.

One night, two of my co-workers encouraged me to come with them for once. They were going to check out some new "IT place in the village and badgered me until I agreed to join them. So there I was in the middle of the club we just walked into. Drinks were ordered and we were just about to go look for a table when I saw him. He was so handsome. I'd never seen anyone that was more beautiful in my life. When I looked at him it was like no one else existed. It was magical and the air around him almost seemed to glow. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't move from the spot I was in, just struck by his beauty. He didn't even break stride when he walked up to me without looking at the other two women with me and asked me if I wanted to have a drink with him. Without saying a word, I nodded."

"He led me to a booth and somehow ordered us two drinks without it ever feeling like he took his eyes off me. We talked for what felt like forever and we were really getting along. It was as if we'd known each other our whole lives. I felt like he knew me inside and out and there was nothing that I'd hold back from him if he asked for it. I was enthralled and lost in him. So much so that when he asked me if I wanted to go somewhere less noisy I jumped at the chance to be alone with him. I didn't even tell my friends where I was going. Nothing existed but this man beside me. I don't remember how we left or when we decided whose place we'd go to but soon we found ourselves at my place and well," she shrugs and I nod my understanding of what happened with the rest of her evening. I didn't even need to peek into her head to get a very clear picture of the events.

She smiles softly once more and I can't help but notice how young it makes her look. She should smile a great deal more.

"Our relationship felt like it was on some sort of bullet train. It didn't take us long to move in with one another and we were together for over a year when I found out I was pregnant. Once I got up the nerve to tell him, he took me in his arms and told me about his family, his other life and most importantly, he instructed me on the skills and gifts of a Fae."

Well at least she got that. No one bothered to tell me until I was nose deep in Supernatural and Vampire shit.

"What is his name?" I ask her. I am hoping upon hope that her son's father and my Fae grandfather aren't the same. Her description of him sounds a great deal like Niall once described not only his son Fintan but my grandfather.

She smiles again. "His name is Killian Gill, she whispers his name as if it's sacred and it probably is to her.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I don't care what Pam says. I'm so not looking forward to any other surprises.

"I used to make fun of his name because of the beer, you know?" she gives me a teary smile. "He has a slight Irish accent and with the name Killian all he needed was red hair to make it that much more comical. But he would laugh it off and started calling me Red so together we were Killian Red."

She pauses then as if she's in a memory

I wait patiently as she has her moment. It is clear that she really loved or loves this Fae.

"Once he told me everything he offered to leave me then. I told him I didn't care about his family or what he was. I loved him and that was all that mattered. He told me the same but then said that he had to leave before the baby arrived. He knew that at some point Vampires in the city would figure out what he was and decide to come for him. Not to mention that the Fae are always battling with one another over something. He explained that another one of his kind from a rival sect could show up at any time and depending on what side of the battle lines they were on he, me and our child would be in danger. I told him that I would move, leave, go anywhere he wanted as long as we were together but he again told me it wouldn't be safe with the Vampires around. Then he told me that he had received word from his father and had been trying to figure out how to explain things to me. I didn't even know that he was in contact with his family. He never spoke about them and I never pried. I figured he had his own reason to be so far away from them and since I had my own reasons for leaving home, I'd allow him to tell me when he wanted to."

"Killian's father informed him that he was marked and had a price on his head. I didn't understand why this wonderful man could be in danger of being killed. I'd never known him to be anything but sweet, loving and kind. How could anyone want to hurt him?"

"He didn't tell you why?" I ask.

"No, he only told me that the mark was made and sealed in blood. Which, I'm coming to understand is a big deal in the Supernatural world," she sighs.

I nod in understanding. Blood, it would seem, is not only important to Vampires.

"Couldn't he speak to someone?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "Killian didn't believe anything could be done. The price was high and evidently there were very few that could resist such a bounty. He didn't tell me if the price was set by Vampire, Fae or someone else. He only said that in order to keep us all safe, he'd need to leave.

"Wasn't he afraid that you were already in danger?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "He assured me that no one knew about me. You see, he never intended to stay in the city or outside the Fae realm after the night we met. In fact, he was due to leave this realm the following night. But when he met me he couldn't bring himself to leave. He told me that he knew the moment that he saw me that he loved me and that he had to be with me. He first promised himself a night, then a week, then a month. A month became two and two became six until we found ourselves facing the reality of our time with one another. Now with a child on its way and a price on his head, he knew that staying would only cause us pain and probably our death."

"But he fell in love with you?" I ask. How could he leave her if he loved her?

Well, Eric said he loved me and he left me. I won't even get into Bill. I doubt that Vampire knows the meaning of the word…

She nods. "He did. I know he loved me more than anything but it just wasn't safe for me with him around. He said the only place he could be safe would be in the Fae realm and in order to go there, he'd have to leave. I begged to go with him but Killian couldn't take me with him. He explained that the portals are designed to allow Fae and only the Fae to come and go. There was no way it would allow me through. It has to do with carrying the Fae blood and since I don't have any, I'd probably die attempting to do it."

"For weeks, I tried everything to convince him that the baby and I would be fine with him but something in his eyes told me that he knew better. It was like he'd seen things to make him believe otherwise. Finally, I realized that my begging and crying was falling on deaf ears. It was then that instead of begging him once more, I promised him that I would keep our son safe and hidden until he was able to return to us once more. He promised me that as soon as it was safe, he would come to us." She sighs.

"He spent the next few days cautioning me and warning me of what the Fae would do. Once he was satisfied with that, he continued to tell me about others that could potentially do us harm. My head was full of all this stuff that I never thought imaginable and part of me wanted to believe none of it. The other part knew that to dismiss his warnings would either get me captured by some unsavory creature or killed."

"He stayed as long as he could with me but he finally said he'd have to leave. I made him promise for the morning to come before he left. I wanted to see him one more time. We made love that night and when I awoke the next morning he was gone. I expect that was for both our benefits. If he stayed until morning, I'd probably convinced him to stay another day. Nothing was going to be enough and I knew that as well as he did."

She is quiet then. I allowed her the time. I can't imagine what it was like to hear that everything we were told was just fairytales. Not to mention that you then realize that your love will be leaving you because of all of it. But then again, isn't that what Eric did when he gave me back my house? Wasn't he leaving me to give me what I wanted? What he thought I needed? Hell, I practically demanded to be left out of the Supe world. He was doing what he thought would be best for me. To give me back my home, my life and my free-will. He'd always done that. Even when he told me about what Bill was actually sent to Bon Temps to do. Even when he asked me to be his when I returned from Fae, it was to give me what he thought I needed.

But in the end, it didn't matter. It didn't matter then and it certainly doesn't matter now. Why did I ever think that I could hide myself from this world? Yes, it is no longer a Vampire world. The moment I found out I was Fae, I became part of the whole thing. Why would I ever think that I could be safe ever again on my own? How could I ever go back to the life I had before Bill Compton ran into it? Why did I think I wanted to?

She sighs and looks up at me. "Once I got myself together, I knew what I had to do. After hearing about all the trouble the Fae can cause, I was fearful of what would happen to my son if we stayed in New York. Killian was certain that he hadn't been seen. He only knew that no Vampires had given him any notice. But it didn't mean that others didn't see or know of him. We had discussed what I'd need to do and he had told me that I had to leave as soon as I could and gave me the means to do so."

I didn't ask what those means were. If Killian was like other Supes I'd met along the way he had ample funds and networks to get and do what he wanted. I would hope that he'd arrange for both to be at the disposal of his family.

"We first moved us to Seattle. We didn't stay there for very long. I didn't want anyone to get suspicious or anything. Killian had planned out many avenues for us to take but it was up to me to decide when and where to move. Having our son with me, I knew that Killian would be able to find us when he was able. We then moved to Santa Fe, then Minnesota, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Vermont and finally in upstate New York where Mr. Northman's man tracked us down."

"How long were you moving around before Eric found you?" I ask her. It sounds like an awful lot of places to be in a very short period of time.

"It was almost three years. The only person who has found us in all that time was Mr. Northman, or should I say Mr. Barrack only one that approached us. I'm not sure if other Supes just gave us the courtesy of leaving us alone or if we in fact, never stumbled upon any but that seemed rather unlikely. Besides, from what Mr. Barrack said, we were not going to stay hidden for very much longer."

"You haven't heard from Killian?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "No, Killian hasn't returned and I've not seen him or any others like him until we agreed to go with Mr. Northman's people."

"How did Eric, or Mr. Barrack find you?" I ask.

"He showed me a file with proof that we'd already been discovered but not by other Supes but by our own government. It indicated that not only did these military and scientists know what my son was but that they would be coming to take him," she sniffles. "He's just a little boy, Miss Stackhouse and they were coming to take him away. They were intending on using him to possibly find a cure for this Hep-V ugliness. When I heard what they were doing to others like Spencer, I knew that I had to do anything and everything to see that they didn't find us. I was all ready to move again. But Mr. Barrack assured me that they would find us if we ran on our own. He told me that they didn't have much time but he promised that if we came with him, he'd protect Spencer and keep him safe. That he'd make sure no one could find him or us and that we would have a choice in everything that we did from that point forward. With him we could have a life, without him I'm terrified to think where we would be right now."

"What did Mr. Northman ask for in return?" I ask her.

"Not much," she looks down. "Spencer and I live with others like him in a remote area of the compound. We have a home, food and clothing: everything we need to keep us comfortable. Mr. Northman has doctors working there as well. In exchange for keeping us out of captivity, they asked for a few vials of Spencer's blood from time to time."

"So they are getting the blood they need?" I ask her. Not sure if I'm in full agreement on how wonderful this little arrangement is. If there is one thing I've learned over the years is that Vampires don't do anything unless there is something in it for them.

She nods again. "It really is a small price to pay for keeping us safe. Once the cure is found and we have nothing to fear from the governments, Mr. Northman has promised to send us anywhere we wanted and swears we will be safe. We could have new identities and everything," she pauses. "He isn't keeping us captive, Miss Stackhouse. Any one of us is free to come and go as we please. He made that clear upon meeting us and there is nothing that says we can't get on a plane and leave anytime we want."

"Has anyone done that?" I ask.

"No," she pauses. "There are two with us that managed to escape from a government compound in the Midwest," she shakes her head as if to clear her mind or her vision of something she doesn't want to see. "Believe me, Miss Stackhouse, if what half they have told us is true, Mr. Northman is a godsend to us. What they went through…" she chokes up,

Part of me wants to know what happened to these people. The other part, yeah the other part is winning right now.

"Does Eric ask anything else of you all?" I ask her. Surely Eric can't be the saint this woman is making him out to be. After all, I think I know Eric Northman very well. Generosity and good will are not in his vocabulary.

_Yeah, that's why he stormed the Fellowship church to rescue her and Godric. Why he went to the Queen to figure out a way to get rid of the Maenad and why he bought and fixed up her home only to give it back to her once she returned. _My inner voice chastises me.

"I help out on these flights when he finds others like Spencer. Mr. Northman believes that having me along helps passengers be less fearful of what's to come."

"Are you sure this is better than what the government would do to you and your son?" I ask.

"Even if we didn't have those two brother's accounts of what happened to them, I'd be certain I make the right choice. Did they show you the videos?" she asks.

"What videos?" I ask her.

"The videos of what the government and their scientists have done to the ones they've found so far?" she says softly.

I shake my head.

"It's horrible, Ms. Stackhouse," she whispers. "The people look like those pictures from the prison camps. You know the ones in world war two? The adults, the kids, they look like they're dying. The Vampires they have look even worse. All of the Vampires have the virus. The children are the worst. Several of the Halflings have come down with something but none of those scientists know what it is."

"Do you know what they are doing about that?" I ask her.

"I don't think so. From what the brothers have told us, the doctors there don't care because they don't consider the Halflings human. Hell, they don't consider the Vampires humans either but they think that if they can cure them, they will have a way to control them. But the Halflings are treated worse. I swear they are using them like lab rats. They said that they are getting worried. They need healthy and strong Halflings and they aren't very easy to find. They did say they have someone helping them find them around the states but no one would talk about it around the test subjects. Anytime they asked questions they were ignored. It's terrible, Ms. Stackhouse. Human beings shouldn't be subjected to any of that."

"You really think that the government is doing all this to control the Vampires?" I ask her.

"I do and so does Mr. Northman. Plus, they are fearful that this virus has the potential to mutate and spread," she says waving her arm about.

"How could they think that?" I ask her. "Isn't Hep-V something that humans can fight?"

"I don't know but the doctors even some of the scientists and such that are working with Mr. Northman believe that if they don't figure out a cure soon, then the virus will mutate into something that will harm the natural born humans."

"Did Eric or Pam tell you that?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "No but I've heard others talking about it on the compound. They say that Mr. Northman gets footage from the government facilities in Atlanta and Wyoming. They are both reporting the same thing. They believe that the virus has mutated to a strand that is harmful to the Halflings. They don't know how this could be happening since they always keep them in different areas but there must have been a cross contamination because what else could explain it? According to what I've heard, the government is demanding more Halflings. They need those with higher concentration of Fae blood or that are strong. I don't think they really understand what makes up a Fae so they really don't know what they are looking for. But kids like Spencer haven't come into their light yet and haven't come to their full potential yet. They are looking for stronger Halflings and have intensified their searches from the states to Europe."

"You said Spencer is six?" I ask her.

"Yes, but he grew up almost within a week. He looks about twenty two now," she smiles and takes a picture out of her pocket and hands it to me.

I smile at the young man. "He's handsome," I say and give it back to her.

"He is a whiz at computers. He's been helping Mr. Northman with the data and intelligence that's coming in."

"That's nice of him," I say to her.

"He may look like a man but he's still very young in many ways. There is a lot he doesn't understand yet. He is still learning and the others like him are showing him the way."

"And in return you and Spencer help Eric," I say almost to myself.

"It's the least we can do, Miss Stackhouse. He saved my boy from a terrible fate. I don't get it," she pauses and looks at me. "The government is supposed to protect us not harm us."

I shrug. "I don't know what to tell you," I shake my head. "I've only found out about all of this tonight. I'm still trying to make heads or tails out of it."

"Well, you may have only heard about this tonight, Miss Stackhouse. But I know that Mr. Northman has been keeping tabs on you since he first found out that they were looking for Halflings."

"You do?" I ask her.

She smiles and nods. "Spencer said that he's been making sure you were safe. He would have him check for mentions of your name, your town, anything connected to you since before we arrived. He would have your area swept for intel to make sure that you were not under investigation. As soon as he got word that they were coming after you, he made plans to extract you as fast as he could. He wasn't about to let what happen to others happen to you."

I nod. "Mr. Northman helped you too, Claire," I smile at her. Suddenly I don't feel very special any longer.

"Not like you, Miss Stackhouse. You must be real special to him. He was ready to head to Louisiana to get you himself. Miss Pam had to nearly shackle him in order to keep him at the compound. I've not been privy to much time with him in the short time we've been there but I've never seen him so worked up. Usually he sends me and Mr. Barrack to get Halflings but he was prepared to come get you himself. Miss Pam had to promise him that she'd get you and bring you back before the government or some others close to you could do you any harm."

"Pam doesn't come with you on these extractions?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "Not that I've experienced, no. Miss Pam is busy helping Mr. Northman. She rarely has time for anything else. But in this case, she really didn't have any choice. Mr. Northman was determined that no one was going to get you but him. If it wasn't for…" she trails off.

"If it wasn't for what?" I ask her.

"I think you need to wait to see him to understand, Miss Stackhouse," she says with sadness in her eyes.

I try to look into her mind, but something tells me that they warned her about my gift. I'm hearing her singing songs from Mary Poppins and not thinking about anything. A rather neat trick if you ask me. No one I know has been able to do it before. .

"Sookie, please, call me Sookie," I say trying to smile but knowing that the worry and uncertainty of my current predicament is reflecting in my eyes.

She smiles again. "Sookie it is," she smiles and goes to stand. "I'll get you a blanket and pillow. You should get some rest. The second half of the trip will be longer than the first but the others will be up soon after we leave Canadian air space."

I nod and take a sip of my water and think about what Claire has told me. It would seem that Eric has been trying to find Halflings before the government does. That really doesn't sound like him. Why would he be risking all of this? Eric has never been one to interfere with the human or other Supe affairs. He's always had way too much to do keeping himself and those closest to him safe. For a while there, that included me. So why would Eric risk everything to help Halflings? Unless he has some reason to believe that he can find a cure for this mess. That must be it. Claire said he has doctors with him. He must know what to look for. Perhaps he knows something that the government doesn't. Why else would he risk everything to try to save a race of Supes that he has nothing to do with? Sure we smell really good to Vampires and our blood is delicious but we aren't talking about full Fae here. We're talking about Halflings. The little pleasure he would receive from the blood wouldn't be worth the risk. Then again, there is that whole walking in the sun thing. But even my blood could only allow him access to the sun for a few moments before he started to burn. Bill almost drained me and he only got minutes before he started to burn. Warlow's blood was strong but he was a really, really old full Fae. Eric couldn't possibly think he could recreate that situation. Even if he had all the Halflings in the world, there would be no way to produce that much Fae blood. By the way Claire is talking you would think that Eric isn't drinking from any of them. He's only asking for small amounts of blood. Not nearly enough to satisfy the thirst of Vampire. So again, we are back to the theory that he's trying to find a cure. What could Eric possibly gain from all this?

I could be thinking about this all wrong. Maybe he's not gaining anything other than helping to find a cure without destroying another species. But what would he care? It's evident that both he and Pam were safe from the outbreak. Tara and Willa have been being extremely careful and I know that if Eric wanted to, he could have them called to his side if he felt that they were in some sort of danger. As far as I know, most of the Vampires in his old retinue were fine and the ones that were new, were keeping safe. Not that there were many Vampires still left in the area. It seemed once Eric left, they all left. Well, all except Bill and those that were working for him. Not that there were many of those left either. When Bill went all "Billith" on everyone, a lot of the guards and others around his estate up and left, leaving Jessica to fend for herself. Not exactly nice for Jessica but it's the truth all the same.

As far as I know, everyone that had any connection to Eric or Pam were doing as well as could be expected given the circumstances. So other than a cure, I see nothing that would compel Eric Northman to risk himself or his retinue.

Claire is back quickly with the blanket and pillow. Kicking off my shoes, I lay back and try to rest. But for some reason, when I close my eyes, all I can see is Eric and I in a big bed out in the forest watching the snow fall. I sigh and try to will the image away. I'll need some sleep and I'll need a clear head when I talk to Eric. He's up to something, I know he is. I just need to figure out what it is before I get there. I need to keep my wits about me as well and after the night I've had, I'm at my wits end.

I know that it isn't fair to Eric or Pam but I need to be at my best when I face him. I can't help it. I'm tired of letting my guard down and being deceived by those that I think love me. This thought brings images of Alcide to mind and I have to will the pain I'm feeling away. How many times did that Were tell me he loved me? How many times did he say that he wanted a life with me? How many times did he say that he was happy that we found each other?

Sure there were times that his mind said other things. There were the times he would think about all the time I've spent with Vampires and how reckless I'd been when trying to help them. He'd think about me sleeping with Eric and Bill and I knew it bothered him. Okay, it more than bothered him but there wasn't anything I could do about that. Nor, could I call him out on what he was thinking. Even when he would think about Debbie, or that woman (or should I say, women) from the pack, there was nothing I could say. After all, everyone is entitled to their own thoughts. I couldn't be angry with him for thinking things any more than he could be angry with me about my past.

So, I did what I could to please him. I'd quit my job at the bar and went to work for him. He thought that some of my clothes were too suggestive and he didn't like other men or Supes looking at me. So, I went out and got some more conservative albeit boring clothes to appease him. I knew that me killing Debbie was still a sore spot for both of us so I chose not to talk or ask questions about his past and life with his father. In turn, he didn't ask me questions about Eric or Bill. Though I knew he thought of both of them a lot. I'd allowed him to play Alpha male around other men to curb his jealousy and I did it all because I thought he loved me and deserved to get what he wanted.

How was I repaid for my efforts? I was going to be forced out of my home and life into what I can only assume would be hell.

Taking a deep breath, I will all of the anger and pain away to be dealt with at another time. I have enough to deal with right now.

Above anything, I'm determined to be smarter than I was. I am determined to make sure that I've got all the answers I need before I jump into another mess. Right now, I'm floating on the breeze and someone else is determining my direction. For as long as I've known about Vampires, it would seem that someone else was guiding my direction. But that is over now. I need to be in control. I need to be the one controlling the breeze or at least guiding my own sails. I need to depend on myself because if I've learned anything, there are very few others I can depend on.

Deciding I've had enough, I will myself into slumber, however, as I close my eyes and will myself to sleep all I can see are a pair of the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen and that damn big bed.


	4. Episode 4

**A/N **

**The closer we get to the upcoming season… the more worried I become. **

**True Blood is not going to be in any way what we want. I'm getting all kinds of bad feelings and HBO and the writers don't seem to be taking the blogs, alerts and reports from the fans seriously.**

**I don't think I know one person that wants Sookie to end up with Bill! At least CH didn't give us that fiasco but how the books did end up was not nearly any better. **

**But now I'm on a my soap box and I need to get down. In hopes that I can ward off my own ill feelings about the ending of TB and possibly preventing one of my Jimmy Choo's from going through the TV in a few weeks, I give to you what my dream would be for the series final season.**

**Here is Episode 4 of how I'd like TB to be :)**

**Thank you to Seph and TexasEx for your help and support on this. You are all the best.**

**So, please have a look see and hopefully this episode will answer some of the questions I've been having.**

**Lots of love, ILWE**

Episode 4 – It's what the Doctor Prescribes

Alcide's POV

_Sam's home, Bon Temps Louisiana_.

Sam paces the floor for the fifth time since I'd shown up. If he keeps this up he is going to destroy the finish on his new hardwood floors. It's one of many upgrades to his little home since being appointed Mayor. I guess being in politics is a lot more profitable than owning a bar. I look around the room again. This new house he had built is a far cry from the doublewide he'd been living in.

"This can't be happening," he says to himself and then looks at me. "What do you mean, you don't have her?" Sam asks.

"I think I'm speaking English, Merlotte. What part of 'I don't have her' do you not understand?" I ask while deliberately saying the words to him a little slower this time than the last three times I've told him.

"NO, this isn't right," he shakes his head. "She was supposed to be with you, Alcide," he points at me. "You promised me that you wouldn't leave her to be controlled by Compton. When you told me what that Vampire was planning you told me that you'd find a way to stay with her. You told me that this was the only way to insure that she'd be safe and out of Compton's reach. You promised me you could protect her!"

"Well I would have had a better chance at it if she didn't just disappear in front of us like she did. I'd never seen her do that before, have you?" I growl back at him. "I didn't even know she had the ability to do that. Other than a witch calling something to themselves, I ain't ever seen someone just up and vanish."

"How the hell could I have known she had the power just to disappear or teleport or whatever the fuck she did?" He waves his arms around as he does another lap around the room.

"You've known her for what, six years?" I ask him. "Fuck Sam, she used to work for you. You knew everything there was to know about her. Short of Tara you said there was no one closer to her."

"Shit, I'm not living with the woman, Alcide!" he yells back. "You said she ain't even shown her light thing. How the fuck was I to know that she could just poof like a fart in the wind?"

"I've only seen three Fae in my fucking life, Sam. She is the second one and is less than half Fae. The only other one I've met is Andy's kid. I admit I didn't have much contact with that fucker Warlow, but I sure as shit have seen Andy's kid around town. Fuck, Sam that girl has been in my house and she has never shown any sign that she could do that and her mother was a fucking full bred Fae."

"If she and Sookie ain't doing Fae shit then what is she doing at your place so much?" Sam asks again.

"How the fuck do I know? She likes being with Sookie. I've never seen that kid do anything while with Sookie. It ain't like they can teach each other stuff. Neither of them knows what the fuck they're doing."

"So they just sit there and do nothing?" Sam asks.

"They talk and before you ask, no they aren't talking about what they can do. All I've ever heard was that girl whining to Sookie about how Andy treats her like such a little girl and that she is getting older and wants to go out and do stuff. She says her father doesn't understand her and Holly isn't helping much. She wishes they would just leave her alone. It's typical teenage shit."

"And Sookie has never done nothing like that before?" he asks again.

"For the last time, no!" I scream at him. "She hasn't even been playing with that ball of light like she did just after all that stuff with that Vampire, well Faepire went down. It's like she doesn't want to think of it. Hell, I don't think she's even talked to that old guy that comes around about it all. So you tell me, how the hell was I supposed to know what Sookie could or couldn't do? Fucking A man, I don't think she knows what she can and can't do. She's so hung up on being normal that she doesn't even want to talk about being Faerie."

"This is such a cluster fuck," Sam runs his hands through his hair and looks at me with real fear in his eyes. Hell I think even if I wasn't a Were I'd smell it. "This can't get out, Alcide. If the town knows why we did this…."

"Sam," we hear from the doorway before he can finish his thought.

We both immediately look up to see the woman standing there.

"What's wrong?" I hear the soft voice of a woman.

"Nicole," he says and moves to her. "I didn't think you'd be home so soon. Why don't we get you off your feet," Sam says and motions for Nicole to follow him down the hall to the little sitting room in back. He calls it her sewing room but I've never seen that woman sew anything.

"Sam, what's wrong," she asks again and then turns to me. "Alcide what's going on? Where's Sookie? You two left so quickly last night and she wasn't at book club today. Is everything all right?"

"Nothing's wrong, honey," Sam says calmly to her. "Alcide and I were just talking about last night and what happened at the bar is all. Everything's fine," he turns to me. "Right Alcide?"

"Sam Merlotte," Nicole pushes his hands away. "I'm not an idiot. I know when you're lying to me. Now tell me the truth. First, you decide to partner with Bill Compton after he's admitted to the world and God that he murdered the Governor of Louisiana."

"Nicole, come on," Sam says. "You can't talk like that. Burrell was committing genocide on the Vampire race. Things could have gotten really out of hand if Bill didn't step in and do something. The Vampire Authority couldn't do anything and something had to be done. . Burrell is the reason we are in this fucking mess to begin with. Bill did what he thought was right," Sam brushes his hand over his head again. "The courts have decided to not prosecute."

"Like they could prosecute a Vamp," I mumble under my breath for only Sam to hear. He shoots me a look to keep quiet.

"I don't care what the courts say and that the laws haven't caught up to the Vampires coming out. He killed the Governor and isn't sorry about it. Just because he's not going to jail for it doesn't make it right, Sam. He has been all over the country promoting that book of his which, by the way, I don't believe half of. Who could believe half that crap he's spewing?"

"Now, that's not fair. It really isn't for us to judge, honey," he says very sweetly.

"Now," she continues. "After all this, he now wants us all to help him feeding these Vampires?"

"It's a good partnership, Nicole. Vampires need humans and humans need Vampires. It's as simple as that. How else are we supposed to protect ourselves against those things out there?" He points to the window.

"That's another thing," she points to Sam. "All around the state we've heard about these hordes coming in. From Florida to Nevada, we are hearing about these groups and what the Vampire communities are doing to fix the situations. Why isn't anything being done in Louisiana?" she asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask her.

She turns to me. "There have been attacks all over the state, why isn't Bill doing something about it? He is supposed to be the head Vampire like that guy in Texas, Stan something. He has taken to either destroying them or confining them. There is nothing being done in Louisiana. Why is that?"

"Honey, I think Bill is doing all that he can." Sam says. "But there haven't been any attacks in Bon Temps and the partnership is to help us if or when they come."

"Well it seemed to be a problem last night," she pauses.

"What are you talking about?" I ask her.

Nicole turns to me again. "I saw them coming, the mob of Vampires coming up the road," she raises her eyebrow at me. "I saw you, Bill and Sookie by the cars. One minute you were arguing and the next Sookie was gone. I was ready to start screaming for help when Vampires and some other guys, who I've never seen around town before, rush past me and are out the front doors of the bar so fast my head felt like it was about to spin. Humans don't move that fast. Unless they are like you," she points to me, "or Sam or are Vampires. The rounded up all the Vampires before they could get close to the bar and moved them back down the road. They did all of this without you or Bill moving an inch. It was as if you knew there was no real danger and were waiting for something to happen."

"You saw all that?" I ask her.

"Yes. Now you going to tell me what is going on or am I going to have to find out myself?"

"Nicole, I don't know what you thought you saw," I start but Sam stops me.

"Don't waste your breath, Alcide," he says to me. "She's too smart," he motions for her to walk into the room and helps her into a chair and squats in front of her.

"What you saw was a band of military fighters stationed in town for our protection against that mob you saw," he says. "We knew that they were going to be here and yes, Bill and Alcide didn't move because they knew that the military had everything under control."

"If the military can control these infected Vampires, why did we need to make deals with Vampires. You said that it was the only way to protect us. You said that it was our only chance since Louisiana is totally screwed and we had to protect ourselves. Was that why Bill hasn't been doing anything to fix the problem?"

"I know what I said, honey," he rubs his hand over hers. "The deal between Vampires and Humans is needed. We need to learn to live with one another in order to survive."

Like he cares about the Vampires in this town. Sam Merlotte has not had any use for Vampires for as long as I've known him. He never wanted them to be hurt but he wasn't about to stick his neck out for one. Okay, maybe he'd stick his neck out for that Jessica Hamby but that's it.

"You said it was the only way," Nicole says again.

"What I said is mostly true," Sam whispers.

"How mostly?" she asks.

He sighs and looks to the ground.

"Sam, I need to know," Nicole whines.

"Fine," Sam says and looks up at her once more. "The Vampires in the area need our help. That wasn't a lie. Right now, there is no True Blood. They are talking about starting up a new company because no one trusts that brand any longer. So for right now, Vampires either need live donors or blood banks and at last look the banks are nearly empty. They need us, Nicole and this was the best deal I could come up with. If we partner with them, there wouldn't be any reason for them to do anything but work with us and keep us safe. The partnership is a win-win, honey. It would keep the Vampires happy and willing to protect us from whatever is coming down the road," he points to the window. "In turn, being protected would keep the humans in town happy," he says to her.

"Why isn't Bill doing something about the Vampires, Sam?" she asks him.

I have to admit, she brings up a good point. Sam says nothing.

"What aren't you telling me, Sam Merlotte?" Nicole raises an eyebrow again.

He bends his head into her lap and takes a deep breath.

"We didn't have a choice, Nicole. You have to believe me, we didn't have a choice. It was the best we could do with a shitty situation." He says without looking up at her.

"What have you done?" she asks.

"It wasn't me who did something, Nicole but I did what I had to do," he looks at me and then back at Nicole. "They, the government people needed Sookie, honey."

"What?" Nicole asks looking from Sam to me and then back to Sam.

"We didn't know anything about it until it was too late," I interject.

"I don't understand," Nicole shakes her head. "What would the government want with Sookie?"

"That's just the thing," Sam says. "You see, Bill made a deal with those people from the Government before Alcide or I knew anything about it. Bill came to Alcide for help."

"What?" she turns to me. "Why on earth would Bill Compton need your help?"

"He thought I'd help him to keep Sookie from making a mistake or getting herself hurt," I say in response. But even as it comes out of my mouth, I can't believe I agreed to help that Vamp.

"They need Sookie's help to find a cure for the Hep-V," Sam says and looks up slowly.

"What are you talking about? What help would Sookie be?" she asks looking from Sam to me.

"The Vampire mob last night were infected Vamps," he says slowly. "But they just didn't happen upon our town. They were supposed to be a diversion in order for Bill and Alcide to disappear with Sookie without anyone noticing. The plan was supposed to be easy," he says. "The disappearance of Sookie was going to be blamed on the Vampires. Everyone has heard the stories about the infected taking humans."

"You let them bring infected Vampires into our town?" Nicole asks.

"We were never in any harm," Sam says. "You saw for yourself. The military were on them before they even reached the bar. A story was going to be spread that Bill and Alcide fought them off and the military was even going to kill a few to make it look good. But in the end, Sookie would be missing." Sam shrugs.

"You," she looks at me. "You were in on this?"

"It would have been a good cover story," Sam says and looks back at me. I don't say anything. What the fuck am I going to say? Personally, I thought the story was stupid but I couldn't come up with another one so I just went with it. Besides, neither Bill nor his friends at the government were asking for my input much.

"It was all going as planned until Sookie disappeared or teleported or something. All we know is that she was gone and Alcide thinks she was at the farmhouse for some time before disappearing again. Once it was clear Sookie wasn't with Bill and Alcide, the military swooped in to take the infected Vamps back to their holding compound."

Nicole is silent for a moment just looking at Sam.

"Honey I did what I thought was right," he says trying to hold her hand.

She pulls back from him quickly. "You allowed a wild pack of V infected Vampires to be let loose on our town so what, they could take Sookie without anyone noticing?" she looks up at me. "How could you let this happen? How could either of you think this was a good idea? How could you do this to her? You," she points to me. "You are supposed to love her. Why wouldn't you just ask her to go with those people and why do they need Sookie Stackhouse in the first place?"

Sam sighs. "Honey, they knew that Sookie was different. There is something in her blood. Something they believe would help find a cure for this epidemic."

"So you were going to just let them take her?" she asks not taking her eyes off me.

"They had a theory that Sookie's blood was like others they have found and are certain that it can be used to make a cure," Sam says again like this time it sounds better or something.

"How would they know something like that?" she asks.

"Well they thought they knew but they still needed proof to confirm what she was. To make sure …"

"So that's what the blood tests were for," she sighs and goes to stand.

"Nicole, we had no other choice," Sam says to her.

She turns and looks him in the eye.

Before either of us can say anything she halls off and punches him dead in the face.

"You bastard, you fucking bastard!" she yells at him. "If it was me that had this, whatever it is in Sookie's blood, would you have allowed them to swoop in and take me?"

"What, no!" Sam yells at her. "I would do anything to keep you safe."

She turns to look at me. "You say you love her but you were going to let them take her?"

"We had no other choice," I say to her. "Bill made a deal with them. He was going to turn her over to them whether we helped him or not. I have no clue what Compton is up to but I do know that he has been telling the authorities where to find others like Sookie. He told me that he'd been finding others like her and handing them over to keep them away from our town and her. But something's not right and they have demanded more of her kind. Stronger blood or something like that," I shake my head. "I don't know really but somehow they located Sookie and Bill did what he could to strike a deal. He said that they weren't going to be satisfied with the others he was giving them for long and he was right."

"What was this deal?" she growls at me.

"He told us that government needed someone like Sookie. That they had been watching her for a while but she just seemed normal. Someone, I don't know who, told them where to find her and what she has done in the past. They found records of her in the hospital with her blood report. They were almost certain that she was who they were looking for and were pissed that Bill hadn't told them where to find her considering this is where he lives. He made a deal with them and if he brought her in without incident, they agreed to allow him to be with her and keep her close while they were doing their tests or whatever they were going to be doing. I don't know all the particulars but I knew if we didn't agree to help him, that Sookie would be lost to us."

She shakes her head at me.

"I promise you that if Sam and I didn't agree to his demands, he would have taken her and none of us would have ever seen her again. I was going to convince her to agree to their terms if I got to go with her. It would have pissed off Compton but at least with me around, she would have had chance at a normal life. I didn't know what to do, Nicole. If I agreed to help, I would be with her. Well, if she'd have me still but at least I could protect her from Bill and anything else that happened while she was with them. Bill promised that she would be okay but I don't trust him. I figured once we got her where we were supposed to bring her, I could make her see reason."

She shakes her head. "You are a fool."

"I swear to you I didn't know what else to do," I say to her again

"Well I saw her disappear right in front of my eyes. That was some new shit. I know Sookie is, well special, but I've never seen her do anything like that. How did she do it?"

"I don't know," I say. "I've never seen her do that before either. As far as I know she never could before last night."

"Where is she now?" she asks. "If you were supposed to protect her, where is she?"

I shake my head. "I don't know," I say softly. "We got to the farmhouse and she was gone. The military guys are fuming mad and are trying to locate her. After she got to the farmhouse, we don't have any idea where she went."

"You think she popped or whatever someplace else?" Sam asks.

"I don't know. The best that they can gather is that she left on a plane. They think she's heading to Wyoming. They are alerting their men out that way and we are leaving as soon as Compton rises."

"How did she get on a plane?" Sam asks.

I look at him. "Bill says he saw Pam in the car speeding away from the house when we passed them on the road."

"Well Fuck," Sam says. "You didn't tell me that!"

"You want to clue me in?" Nicole asks.

"Pamela is Eric Northman's child," Sam says. "Which means…"

"Eric now has Sookie," I say to him.

"You know what this means right?" Sam asks me.

Yeah I know what this means. We are seriously fucked. Regardless of what Eric wants with her, we are seriously in some deep shit.

"Is this bad?" Nicole asks.

"If you thought that Compton was bad, you've would hated Eric Northman. He…" Sam looks at me.

"He's our fucking worst nightmare," I say and look out the window.

Fuck Sookie, where are you?

*****************0*********************

Lafayette's POV

I pull my car up the long drive and look around. I swear on everything I hold dear that I'd never see again. As soon as I come to a stop, I take a deep breath, get out and move toward the front door of the makeshift house. I can't help but notice her, standing in the doorway, watching my every move.

"I need your help," I say to her without coming any closer. I know without a shadow of a doubt that she can see me and can understand what I'm saying. She may not be one for talking but I know just by the way she's standing there that she knows the trouble I'm in.

I move just a little closer and she moves into the light. I can see her holding the child that she was still pregnant with when he last saw her.

"I've helped you enough," Maria says. "There is nothing left for you here. You go now."

"Listen," I say as I move a little closer. "I just need somewhere to stay for a day or two and then I'll be gone," I motion to the car. "I'm heading further south and I'm just trying to make sure that I wasn't followed by anyone," she shakes her head. "I don't think they will. They don't know about this place or you. You don't have to worry. I'm not planning on staying long," I move a little closer. "Two days tops and then I'm heading…."

"_Don't tell her where you are heading," _I hear beside me.

I look to see Jesus and he smiles.

"You come to me now, bitch!" I yell at him. "Where were you when I was scared out of my fucking mind last night? You don't think I could have needed your freaky words of wisdom then? Fucking ghosts, never doing what you expect them too. "

"You can see him," Maria says and she moves through the door onto the porch. "Jesus," she points to the spirit standing next to me. "You can see him?" she asks.

"I'm a fucking witch and a medium, bitch, of course I can see this fine looking ghost ass standing next to me," I look sideways at my love and then back to his, well, his step-grandmother I guess she would be. That just sounds three shades of fucked up weird since the girl is pretty much just out of diapers herself.

She looks from me to Jesus and then back at me. She nods her head at something but I don't know what the fuck it's about.

"Come inside," she says and turns to walk back into the house.

"How come I ain't supposed to tell her where I'm going?" I ask Jesus when she is out of ear shot.

"_Because, I'm not sure what is going on. I can hear voices in her head when she is silent. They are quiet for the most part. More like whispers but they are there. For some reason, I don't think Bardolo is completely gone. He may be living though the child."_

"Fucking perfect," I say and turn back to the car.

"_Where are you going?"_ he asks me.

"I'm getting the fuck up and out of here, boyfriend. That mother fucker was going to kill me to put this ju-ju shit back into your head." I point to my heart. "I'm not about to stay around when the mother fucking ass' spirit is up in this house, in that woman's head or in that kid!" I say to him.

"_A spirit can't hurt you_," he says to me.

"The fuck it can't," I growl at him. "First ," I put up one finger, "I was taken over by Marnie, the super psycho bitch on wheels. That woman was bat shit crazy on a good day. Then she got a taste of power and looks what happened. That fucked up mess almost cost me Sookie and Tara and it ended up costing me you, you mother fucking ass." I stare at him for a moment before I continue.

"Oh," I put up a second finger, "then some crazy woman looking for her baby took me over and tried to steal Arlene's baby before they all figured out what was going on. I could have been shot or worse, gone to jail and I'm too pretty to go to jail."

"Then, I was taken over by Corbett Stackhouse." I hold up the third finger. "That crazy fucker tried to kill his own daughter. Did you know that?" I ask him. "He decided that he was going to use me to finish the job. If it ain't for that sick mo-fo ass fucking old Vampire-hybrid Warlow, I would have killed one of my best friends in the world. You know that fucker shocked the spirit right out of me? That shit hurt more than falling out of a fucking tree. So do not tell me that spirits can't harm me. They have been doing nothing but harming my ass since I got this fucking shit curse or gift or whatever fucking shit you want to call this crazy thing I call a life."

"So don't think for one moment that I'm about to walk into the mo-fo house and get taken over by someone else who wants to kill me or someone close to me. I'm not fucking doing it. Why did I come here in the mother-fucking first place? Why didn't I just stay where I fucking was? They wouldn't be looking for my ass. My fine ass could be on my front porch right now having a cocktail and smoking a blunt. But no, I've got to be here. Why the fuck am I here?"

"_Because Tara told you to run," Jesus says. "She told you that the people that are after her and Sookie were going to come for you to get information about them or better yet, use you to make Sookie do what they wanted. Tara cares about you, baby. She doesn't want you to be hurt and she couldn't stay to protect you. You had no other choice honey but to run."_

"The fuck up is all that shit?" I yell into the air. "Every time I turn the fuck around some more shit is falling on my head. I'm fucking done with the lot of it. I just want to be around the normal crazy of Bon Temps. You know the redneck ignorant fuckers and their fucking ignorant ways. The fucking crazy Arlene shit and her motherfucking guy problems. Sookie's crazy ass smile when I know everyone is driving her nuts. Jason's fucking everything that will stand still and Andy fucking drinking in the corner of the bar mumbling about how no one respects his ass even now that he's the fucking sheriff. Oh and I want my fucking Terry's crazy ass back and trying to do right by his family while trying to keep those fucking voices in his head at bay," I turn to look at him. "That is all the fucking crazy I can take. Not all this shit right here," I wave my hand around. "This shit is more than any one fucker should handle. This all up in here," I motion circle in front of my face, "Is just about one step away from being a total looney fucking shit. I am seriously beyond fucking couch time boyfriend. This is seriously fucking put me in a rubber fucking room and lock the fucking door kinds of bull shit. Fucking like a duck, maybe they will give me and Ruby Jean a double room. Two for one special and all that shit."

I lean down next to the car and put my head between my knees trying to steady my breathing.

"You done?" I hear beside me.

I look up to see Maria standing beside me still holding Satan's fucking spawn in her arms.

"You going to try to fucking kill me?" I ask her.

She smiles and shakes her head. "He can't hurt you," she says in a thick accent. "Jesus will not allow it."

"He's a fucking ghost woman," I growl at her.

"As is my husband," she smirks at me. "You are safe here," she reaches her hand out.

"This is all kinds of fucked up," I say shaking my head.

"_You will be safe here, love,"_ Jesus says.

"Says you, you fucking ghost," I say to him.

"If you don't trust me," Maria says. "Trust that Jesus would never let anything happen to you."

She wiggles her fingers at me. "The baby is getting heavy," she says.

I wait a moment, thinking about what my options are. I sigh, take her hand, stand and follow her toward the house.

"If I fucking die in this house, I'm coming back to haunt every fucking person that done cause me all this bullshit," I mumble as she leads me into the house

I turn to see Jesus laughing at me.

"Yeah laugh it up boyfriend, go ahead."

****************0************

Doctor Stork POVC

Louisiana holding and research facility

I look from the observation deck at the subjects below. After a moment I turn my attention back to the file in front of me and shake my head. I can't believe what the newest test results are showing us and there is really no way to explain it.

"What is causing this, doctor?" The woman beside her asks motioning to the glass wall without even looking at it. "I thought you said you had a handle on this Hep-V virus strain. I don't think that the delegates are going to be very happy with your current results if this is all we have to give them," she points to the windows, again without looking through it at the subjects below.

I turn to look at the woman. Squaring my shoulders I try to not get defensive but know that I'm going to fail miserably. "Don't you think that if I had the answer, I would give it to you?" I look back at the bed upon bed of sick subjects. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Hep-V is a Vampire virus. It shouldn't be affecting the humans."

"Yes, but they aren't human, now are they?" She smirks at me. "Perhaps what makes them unholy is the same thing that makes the Vampires abominations in the site of God. Could it be that whatever is in the Hep-V is the common denominator and why we humans are immune? Perhaps there really isn't a cure and we are just fooling ourselves. It wouldn't be the first time that humans believed they knew more than God."

Ignoring her little rant, I decide to focus on something else. It's time we ask this woman what we are all dying to ask.

"What else do you know about this Hep-V strain, Mrs. Newlin?" I ask her.

She smiles without flinching. It's as if she's been waiting for this question. Or perhaps she's been asked it by others.

"I've told the delegation all I know about where the virus came from," she says.

"Yes, but the first round of Hep-V was found in the True Blood," I look at the file in front of me and then back at her. "Those vampires were killed instantly from the strain. This," I point to the window, "and the Vampires we see now are contracting something different. Can you explain that?" I ask her.

"Like I said," she shrugs. "I've told the delegation everything I know about the virus and how I understood it to spread. Overlark and Truman knew most of what it would do to the unholy lot. I was content to leave them to discuss the particulars. I was there for the righteous," she flips her hair back.

"Yes, I always found that curious," I say to her. "You were in the facility when the Vampires were freed and yet you escaped. Someone up there must really like you. It would seem that you were the one and only human that did in fact escape with your life that day. Yes, if one was of the curious nature, they would find the whole ordeal most suspicious."

"Perhaps the Lord saw fit to allow me to live so that I could help you with this little problem?" She points down into the room once more.

"Really?" I ask her. "And what do you know about trans-mutating viral infections?"

"Not a thing," she laughs. "But I know how Vampires act and thanks to Truman's research, we know how to control them. If it wasn't for me, you would never be able to hold the infected that you've captured here in the compound."

"What about the documentation and data?" I ask her. I didn't know Truman but I did know Overlark. He wouldn't have done anything without data. There wasn't any when the facility was investigated. "Can you explain that?" I ask her.

"The Vampires were crazed monsters, doctors. I doubt there was anything left once they were through with it," Mrs. Newlin says.

"No," I shake my head. "As far as I know, the servers and computer system were intact. Yet all information about the makeup and distribution of the virus was either erased or destroyed."

"Or maybe," she interjects. "It wasn't there in the first place. Overlark was very suspicious. Maybe he put the information somewhere so it wouldn't be stolen. I wouldn't put it past him to hide it, doctor. But then again, I wouldn't really know. Like I said, I stayed out of his way and allowed Truman to deal with him."

"I still don't understand why you are here at all," I say to her.

"My good doctor," she sighs. "Truman Burrell may have been sacrificed for a cause but it was one he believed in. He may have been misguided but he was trying to control and govern the state the only way he saw how. He knew that the Vampires in the area were getting to the point that they could potentially be dangerous. Every day, we saw influxes of Vampires coming into the area. Truman would do anything to keep us God fearing humans safe from extinction at the hands of dangerous blood suckers. It may have been the wrong tactics but the meaning was the right one. The delegation saw the wisdom in what Truman was trying to do and took that into account when figuring out what to do from here. The only way to find a way out of this mess is to control the situation. It's quite simple, doctor."

"And what would that be, Mrs. Newlin?" I ask.

"Vampires must be controlled or they will control us. I'm here to make sure that you don't stray from that objective."

I shake my head. "Thank you for that political propaganda, Mrs. Newlin and we all are thankful for your wisdom and knowledge in containing the infected. But it doesn't change the fact that the Vampires are sick because they were infected with a virus that your boyfriend created. If we have any chance of stopping this pandemic, it will be to come up with a way to combat the virus and eradicate it. It appears that the ones we thought would be able to help," I point again at the room, "are now becoming ill. Frankly, Mrs. Newlin, it wouldn't take a very large jump for that strain to transmute and affect the rest of us."

She shakes her head. "That won't happen."

"And why do you think that?" I ask her.

"Because God is on our side," she smiles again. "He's always been on our side. He is allowing those Vampires to be infected because they are unholy. He has obviously seen fit for something," she points to the room, "to infect these unholy creatures as well."

"You believe that, don't you?" I ask her.

"It really is the only logical solution. God doesn't see these types of creatures the same way he sees those of us who have been made in his image."

I lean back on the wall. "My God, you really believe that, don't you?" I ask her.

She smirks at me. "You are fighting a losing battle. God's wrath is absolute," she holds her chin up. "His desires will prevails in all things. You very well may be able to stop the spreading of this virus but God's will is what will be, in all things."

I stand there for a moment waiting for this woman to tell me the punch line. At the very least, I'm hoping that I'm being "punked" or something along those lines. The Delegation to the United States Supernatural Creatures or DE USC as we have being calling it can't possibly consider this woman as one of them? She's as crazy as she was when she and her husband ran that church way back before all this crap started. I mean, seeing them on the talk shows was bad enough but at least their demographics and following were relatively contained. Normal, sane and logical people really didn't pay them any mind. Then Steve Newlin became a Vampire. I thought things would die down then but that didn't happen. Reverend Newlin became the face of Vampires all over the world. He again was on every talk show and news program he could find. If that wasn't bad enough, Sarah Newlin goes and shacks up with Governor Truman Burrell. That man was ten times crazier than Newlin ever was and he had the power and connections to not only wreak havoc on Vampires but the entire human population of the state and beyond. Now as if they didn't learn their lesson, Sarah Newlin has somehow managed to cozy up to those idiots on the Delegation. This woman gives a new meaning to the word _Gold-Digger_.

"I think we are done here, Mrs. Newlin," I say to her. "I will be speaking to DE USC directly from now on."

"Oh, I don't think so," she smiles at me. "It's my job to make sure you are doing everything you can to prevent this virus from getting to us humans. If that means you have to test this virus and cures on every single unholy, un-natural creature on the planet, then that is what you will do."

I shake my head. "Mrs. Newlin, this is my facility. I'm in charge here. I would ask you to remember that. Now, I'm sure that the DE USC is waiting on your report and I'm further certain that the facilities in Wyoming and California are in need of your, well, expertise. I won't keep you from your duties," I turn back to my clipboard hoping she'll take the hint.

"Doctor, you need to remember something yourself," she says as the door opens behind her and my security team enters the room. "You may run this little rat maze you've created but the members of the DE USC listen to what I say. They do what I want," she smirks looking me up and down. "There may come a time when they may even think you are not working in the best interest of the greater good. Remember that, before you start trying to save creatures that shouldn't be walking the earth to begin with. Do your job. Find a way to stop the spread of the virus and control the Vampires. That is what you are paid to do."

She doesn't wait for me to say another word as she turns and walks out of the room like she owns the place.

"Doctor Stork," my chief of security, Tanner Lewis, waits for me to look up.

"I want to know the moment she's outside the compound and I want her security to be revoked."

"Ma'am?" he asks.

"Oh, and get me the Chief Delegation Rep," I say to him.

"You want to talk to Senior Chief McAvoy?" He asks me.

"He needs to know that he has an Anti-Vampire zealot overseeing the facilities for him." I say and look at him. "You got that conversation on tape, I presume?"

"We get everything on tape," he nods to me.

"Good," I say and go back to look at the ill patients below. Most of them can't be any older than my own son. Damn this is getting nuts.

I turn to look back at him. "I want the footage with audio ready to submit to the chief during my conversation and I want it done within the hour."

He nods. "Is there anything else?"

I sigh. "Contact Lieutenant Tisdale. I want to know where we are at finding the Stackhouse and Bellefleur girl. We need them. If they are as powerful as our research shows, I need them and I need them fast."

Lewis leaves without saying anything else. He knows not to ask me any questions. I'm so not in the mood. I wasn't kidding when I said that the strain could easily do another jump. I just don't know what the catalyst is. I have a feeling that if I don't find it soon, we may have something like a live version of a Stephen King novel. Yeah, not exactly what the DE USC wants to hear.

I turn back to the room and look down on them once more. I've got a lot of work to do and if that Woman is going to cause me any problems, I want her gone.

As I'm reviewing the last of my notes, the door opens again. I don't need to look up to know that it's my second, Doctor Alec Moore. The man is a genius when it comes to germ warfare, splicing and re-engineering. He'd worked under Overlark for years before he went bat shit crazy and teamed up with Burrell.

"I've got something you need to see," he says to me.

I look up and take the file from him. "You found something," it's not a question.

"More like I didn't find something," he said.

I raise an eyebrow and then open the file. Reading it I shake my head.

"This can't be," I say. "Did you verify this?" I ask him."

"I wouldn't be bringing it to you if I didn't," Moore says. "The data doesn't lie."

"I don't understand," I look at him. "The Hep-V we are seeing in the subjects should be a strain of the original we found in the True Blood bottles."

"Well it isn't," he says. "It doesn't have any part of the protein or code in common. I could understand the proteins being different but the code would need to be similar to be part of the same strain. These viruses didn't trans-mutate, doctor."

"It's a completely different strain," I say out loud. "This is something completely different," I pause and look up at him. "All the information we got from Compton?"

"Is completely useless. If it was just a different strain, we would be able to find some form of enzyme that he was working on. This," he points to the file, "indicates we have been trying to isolate the wrong enzyme. It's a different strain with a completely different protein which means its infecting the host in a different way."

I nod. "The first strain killed within hours," I look at the file again. "This new one doesn't kill it just destroys the brain," I look up at him.

"It gets better," he points to the file.

I read on. "This changes things," I say to him.

"Yup," he pops the p at the end of the word. "The humans that are carrying the dormant gene of Hep-V didn't get it from contact with a somehow infected Vampire. It's the opposite. The humans were given the strain," he says.

"Why would anyone want to give humans Hep-V?" I ask him.

"Someone who wanted to cause Vampires to go mad," he says.

I look up at him.

"What?" he says. "What other explanation could there be? The first strain was designed to kill anyone who drank from the tainted blood. This," he shakes his head. "This is a slow painful death. Those Vampires don't know their name, don't know who made them and they certainly have lost reason. The ones at the final stages are pretty much performing basic function and nothing more. It is eating them from the inside out. Someone wanted them to suffer."

"You are sure that it's not a mutation? I ask again.

"There is no way it can be," he says. "Someone or a group of someone's' got humans to either be injected with or ingested the virus. How, I don't know. But there is one thing for sure," he pauses and I look at him. "There is no way this is the hand of God as that wacked out, dyed blonde nut job thinks. This sucker is man-made."

I look through the file again. "We know where the first outbreak of these zombie-like Vampires started?" I ask him.

"The first reports were in Louisiana. We didn't think much of it because we thought that it was based on the strain from the True Blood and those were the trucks we confiscated."

I flip to the last page of the report. My mind going in so many directions at once. This is really bigger than we thought if everything I'm reading is true.

"Do we have Newlin's blood on file?" I ask him.

"We have every human who visits this facilities blood on file. It's safety precautions."

I nod. "Run it and find out what strain if any it has," I say and hand him back the file.

"You think she's a carrier?" Moore asks.

I nod. "I think she is and she knows more than she is saying,"

"You have any thoughts on them?" he asks pointing to the window.

I nod. "They don't have Hep-V," I say softly. "I don't know why they are sick but it is nothing like what we are seeing in the Vampires."

"But the brass in Wyoming seems to think it's a mutation," he replies.

"Yes but they don't have you, now do they?" I smile at the man. "Nothing in our findings proves that they have any variation of the virus."

"You didn't tell Newlin that," he says.

I shrug. "I don't tell her a lot of things."

"What is making them sick?" he asks.

I shake my head. "I don't know. But something tells me that I'll find the answer in this Stackhouse woman."

"Doctor," I hear from behind me.

I look at my head of security.

"All is ready for your conference call," he says. I nod and hand the files to Moore. "It's show time," I say and smile walking out the door.

That bitch may think she has the upper hand. Well, I know one this. She hasn't seen anything yet.


	5. Episode 5

Episode 5 - Trust in your inner guidance. Either that or I'm going completely insane.

SPOV

"_Sookie," I hear someone say. "My little Fairy, open your eyes."_

_I do as the voice asks. Standing in front of me surrounded by a golden mist is someone I thought I'd never see again. I blink twice thinking that I must be seeing things._

"_Claudine?" I ask her as I sit up and look around realizing that I'm not on the plane. "Where, where are we?" I begin to panic._

_Shit if they all wake up and find me gone they are going to freak out. Either that or my mind has finally given up and I've gone completely insane._

"_Calm yourself," Claudine says as she moves closer to me. "You haven't been taken from where you are and you haven't gone insane," she says as if she's reading my mind. Oh, yeah, she can read my mind. _

"_I'm still on the plane?" I ask her._

_She nods. "You are. I am no longer able to teleport you anywhere my darling girl."_

"_How are you here?" I ask her._

_She smiles. "I'm here because you need me."_

"_But you're dead," I say to her. "I watched Eric drink you dry. I am so sorry about that," I say softly._

_She shrugs. "I should have known better then to allow myself to get that close to a Vampire," she says and comes to sit beside me. "I knew that there were several in the area. I should have known better than to get so close to them at night."_

_When I look around it seems to be the meadow where the entrance to the Fae club used to be but what do I know. Hell, we could be anywhere._

"_Aren't you pissed off that he killed you?" I ask._

"_I should be," she says. "But I'm not. It was my fate and it will serve your Vampire well in times to come."_

"_I don't understand. What do you mean my Vampire?" I ask her._

"_I mean that YOUR Vampire is doing everything he can to solve this problem your realm now faces and I believe having my blood within him will assist him," she pauses, "and you with what is to come."_

"_He isn't my Vampire," I say in a huff._

"_Isn't he?" she asks and raises an eyebrow. "By the light child, you are more stubborn than any Stackhouse I've ever met."_

"_You have met many?" I ask her._

_She nods. "You are the first female but I've met many of the males in your line. They have all been stubborn and pigheaded but none as much as you."_

"_Hey," I say to her. "That's not very, I don't know, Fairy Godmotherly of you." Is Godmotherly even a word?_

"_The time for subtlety is over, Sookie Stackhouse. Besides subtle doesn't seem to work on you so we shall go with blunt. I wish to pass on to Summerland and I can't do so until I know that you are safe and taken care of," she says a little sterner with an eyebrow up. _

"_I would have thought you would have gone, what did you call it; Summerland already," I reply._

"_Well, I would have if my charge would pull the wall away from her eyes and start acting like the fairy she is," she pauses waiting for me to reply. When I don't she continues. "I have been tasked with helping you see what you cannot or will not. Though I can't believe after everything you have seen, heard and experienced that you are continue to ignore what is so blatantly right in your face."_

"_First of all, I can take care of myself fine," I say to her._

"_Yes, because up until now you have been doing such a superb job."_

_I just glare at her and continue. "Secondly, I see fine. What haven't I seen?"_

"_You are so blind. Why can't you just admit what your eyes are showing you?" she asks._

"_You know what I see? I see a family who were so afraid of me becoming a Vampire that they were going to drown me. I see a town that has been terrified of me for years and ignored me instead of getting to know me. You," I point to her. "I see you take me to a crazy place that some crazy ass Fairy wanted me to eat something to make me stay."_

"_I was trying to protect you," she interrupts me. "I was unsure of if you were going to be well with that, that, creature living so close to you."_

_I ignore her and keep on going. "I see that all the men in my life have done nothing but lie to me and take advantage of me."_

"_All of them, Sookie," she pauses. "Are you sure of that? Has every man in your life taken advantage of you and lied to you? Is there not one that told you the truth and was there to protect you? One that would give up his own happiness to grant you what you thought you wanted?"_

_I lean back on the bench and sigh. Closing my eyes I will my anger away. I hate these riddles. They are almost as bad as Vampire non-answers._

"_I am not giving you riddles," she says in answer to my inner monologue. Damn mind reading Fairy. "Nor is the Vampire giving you non-answers. You just wish to stay behind your wall with your blinders up."_

"_Fine," I huff again. "What do I refuse to see?"_

_She smiles. "Who has been there for you when you needed him?" she asks. _

_I shake my head. "They've all had hidden agendas."_

"_Really?" she asks and stands. "Let's start from the beginning, shall we?"_

_I say nothing as she waves her hand and I see what looks like a portal. Only this portal shows the scene of Eric and my first meeting. I smile when I see myself tell him that I don't think I am sweet. What I didn't see the first time is the gleam in Eric's eye when I said it and the small smile he gives me before stealing away his expression._

_The image fades and Claudine turns back to me. "Did it never occur to you that the Vampire knew you were lying when you said you belonged to another? Did it never occur to you that he could have taken you then and never looked back?"_

_I shake my head. "Eric wouldn't have done that. He knows I'd be pissed."_

"_He knew nothing of you then, my dear Sookie. Besides, if all he wanted was your body or blood what would he have cared if you were angry with him?"_

_I say nothing thinking about what she was saying. She's right, of course. He could have taken her from Bill. She wasn't bonded to him. Sure she had his blood but that's it. Eric could have demanded that she be given to him and Bill being the underling would have had to comply._

"_What about your trip to Dallas. Eric offered himself up for you to those horrid extremists," she says._

"_He offered himself up for Godric too," I say to her._

"_The Vampire Godric was twice as old as your Vampire. He would not need anyone's help if he decided to escape or to pillage the lot."_

"_Stop calling him my Vampire," I say to her. "I haven't laid claim to him."_

"_Yes but he has offered himself up over and over again to you and you have denied him everything time and time again," she says._

"_No I didn't. I opened myself up when he lost his memories," I say to her. _

"_Yes, and you fell in love with him and him you. Did you ever wonder why he was on that road heading toward your house?" she asks me. "Did it never occur to you to ask how he got there?"_

_I shake my head. Of all the things that had gone on when I got back from the Fairy land, no I never did think about how Eric got all the way to my place or why he was in Bon Temps, on my road heading toward my home._

"_He bought and repaired your house after the Manead attack. He made sure that everything was the way you would have wanted it. He believed you would return. The Vampire King and your brother gave up on you but your," she pauses. "The Viking Vampire never did. Even after you rejected him once more, he somehow found you while in his sensitive state. Why is that?"_

"_I don't know," I say and cross my arms. "You would have to ask him."_

"_I don't need to ask him and neither do you. He was lost without his memories and trusted in his inner voice that told him to get himself to a safe place. Vampires, after all have base instincts like any other creature. He was scared and panicked. He told himself to get to somewhere he could be safe. That safe place was you, Sookie." She says softly._

_I say nothing for a moment._

"_When the Vampire called Bill was taken, the Viking helped you to find him. Even though he not only wanted you but knew that Bill had been sent by the Queen. When you landed in Edgington's grasp, he was there to protect you. When they wanted to take you.."_

"_He took my blood," I say, well almost shout it really._

"_He knew that your blood wouldn't sustain even someone as old as Edington for long. If it did, your Bill Compton would have been walking in the sun after almost draining you in the back of that van," I cringe at the memory of that. "No," she shakes her head. "Compton relished in the sun for only several moments before needed to take shelter. The Viking knew this and did what he had to inorder to protect you. He would have died that day if you didn't pull him in from the sun. He was prepared to die next to Edgington without so much as a second thought."_

_I say nothing. What is there to say?_

"_He offered you back your home when you denied his love once more. You thought he owed it to you but in truth, it was you who owed his so much. However, he offered to release you and walk away if it was what made you happy."_

"_He left," I say softly._

"_He needed to grieve for his losses. You cannot deny him what any creature would need."_

_I shake my head. No, I couldn't deny him his grief. He lost so much and I ached for him. _

"_He has been watching over you since he departed. Even in his own grief, his own pain, he looked after you; only deciding to take you when you were in danger. Yet you still question whether he's doing this for you or himself. Believe me that I don't say this lightly. That Vampire loves you more than either of you realizes. Everything the Viking has done has been to protect you."_

_I shake my head and push back the tears. "How can I be sure?"_

"_You want assurances?" Claudine asks. "What assurance are you looking for? Humans can't give you assurances. Look how so many come together and then fall apart daily. Even with assurances given, there are no guarantees. Yet this Vampire who has walked this plane for over a thousand years tries time and time again to show you his sincerity yet you question it. Yet you let the likes of that other Vampire and the two-natured into your life without a second glance. Why is that, Sookie?"_

_I say nothing again._

"_Is it because you know that you don't really love them and because of that they can never really hurt you?"_

_I spin my head around to look at her. "I loved Bill. He was my first everything. I gave him everything."_

_She shakes her head. "You didn't give him your heart Sookie. Did sharing blood with him ever produce a Winter love dwelling for you to spend time in with him?"_

"_How do you…" I pause. "No, it never did."_

"_You loved the silence you found in him. You loved the strength and power he possessed being a Vampire. You yearn for something more than what that little town has ever been able to offer you. But once you met the Viking you knew that your Bill had nothing on him. If you are honest with yourself, you will admit that you were attracted to the Viking from the moment you saw him and it scared you."_

"_I wasn't scared," I say._

"_If you can't be honest with me, be honest with yourself," she says. "The feelings you had for the Viking scared you. You did everything in your power to put up walls and to push him away because feeling for someone that intensely terrified you."_

"_My parents tried to kill me. My brother has blamed me for not only their deaths but our Gran's. My uncle was planning on raping me and my cousin sold me out to a deranged Vampire Queen so that she could get laid. Excuse me if I am leery of trusting people."_

"_Yet, you allowed another of his kind, the two-natured, and that political shifter into your heart?" she questions me. "What have they done for you other than betray you? Face the facts, Sookie. The one you continue to push away is the only one that never abandons you."_

"_Yes he did," I say softly. "He left," I stand and walk away from her. "Without so much as a goodbye he left me after blaming me for his sister's death."_

"_As I said and you agreed, he was mourning, Sookie," she pauses. "You must believe after all you have heard since you left the farmhouse that he has never stopped feeling for you."_

"_How can I be sure?" I ask her. "I need something, anything that will assure me that he's the one."_

_She laughs. "He has already given you what you need."_

"_I don't understand," I say to her._

"_My dear Sookie," she puts her hand on my cheek. "Only the joining of two Fae souls could have conjured up the Winter garden that you dwelled in. If you had both wished it, you would have stayed there forever."_

"_I don't understand," I say again._

"_The joining of light. Your Vampire had taken in my light. Together you joined. The exchanging of light by two joining souls could be the only thing that would have conjured such a side realm."_

"_Is that what we did?" I ask her._

_She nods. "You made one for that Warlow to keep him safe but it would have faded in time. Your souls were not one and even if the contract could and would have bound you to him, your soul was already joined with another."_

"_Is that why he couldn't control me?" I ask her._

_She nods. "The contract was bound by blood in a way that once he claimed you, you should have been his. You weren't. All he gave you was his light."_

"_That didn't break the bond I have with Eric?" I ask._

_She smiles. "No, it did other things. But break your bond? No, nothing can break the joining of two Fae souls."_

"_But Eric isn't Fae," I say to her._

"_Once he took me in, part of him became Fae. Joining with you sealed it within him. He is not what Warlow was but he is part of you and you him. Other than your resistance to see and feel it, I have no other reason why you haven't felt him all this time. You are much stronger than any anticipated. You will be good for one another. That is if you accept what has been hitting you upside the head since you met him."_

_I go to sit back down on the bench and put my head between my hands. "Am I that stubborn that I blocked him out?"_

"_You could be or he could be holding you at bay so you wouldn't feel what he's been going through," she says._

_Those words pull me up short. "What is wrong with Eric?" I ask._

"_You will see soon. But first, do you agree that the Vampire loves you?"_

_I sigh and close my eyes. "I want to but I'm scared."_

"_He loves you Sookie. He wants only what is best for you. He was willing to leave you and never return if it made you happy. All he has done is for your safety."_

_I think of all the times Eric and I've been together and how things have played out. Time and time again, he bent to my will, did things to keep me safe or tried to do what was best for me. Every time I thanked him by throwing it back in his face. Every time I willed my feelings for him away._

"_I'm so stupid," I say to myself._

"_You aren't stupid," Claudine comes and wraps me in her arms. "You are a fearful creature who is protecting itself. But no more," I look up at her. "The only way you and your Vampire will get through all of this is if you depend on one another. He's needed you for some time Sookie. He was not willing, however, to ruin your happiness with the Were for his own gain."_

"_Why?" I ask. "What is wrong with him?"_

"_Again, you will have to wait and see," Claudine looks out at something in the distance but for the life of me I don't know what it is._

_She smiles. "I'm being called," she says softly as I see a light in the distance come closer._

"_What is that?" I ask her._

"_Summerland," she says and turns to me. "You've made your decision. I'm free from my obligation to you," she hugs me harder. "Thank you."_

"_You mean, You literally couldn't leave until I was protected?" I ask her._

_She nods and I see tears in her eyes. "Now I can move on," she smiles at me as she stands and starts to walk where the light is coming from and looks to be getting bigger._

"_Claudine wait," I say and go to stand but find I can't._

"_Remember love and our light are all through you, my darling girl. Be true to yourself and to your Viking. He will be what you need now," she says._

_Before I can say anything else, the light engulfs her and blinds me at the same time. I close my eyes against it and put up my hand in fear that it will engulf me too._

_As the light starts to fade, I hear her soft voice. Remember Sookie, he shares your light._

"Sook," I hear as someone shakes me. "Hon, it's time to wake up."

I open my eyes to see the bright smile of my oldest friend.

"Hey there sleepy head," she says as I move to sit up and look around.

I'm back in the plane and I seem to have slept for quite a while because all the Vampires are up.

"How long was I out?" I ask.

"About three hours," Tara says. "We will be landing soon."

"Three hours," I say and jump up to look out the window. "How can it have been three hours?" I ask. "It would be morning still."

"It's three in the afternoon with the time difference," Pam interjects. "We will be landing in about ten minutes."

"Three?" I look around. "How?"

"It's called Polar Nights," Pam answers me.

"I'm sorry, the what?" I ask as I move over to one of the seats to prepare myself for our landing.

"Polar Nights," Pam says again. "Endless darkness, the sun never rising over the horizon, I'm sure they talked about this is school. Even in a small town like Bon Temps you must have had geography."

"Polar Nights," I say softly. "Isn't that in the north pole or something?" I ask her.

"It is there, yes. But it reaches northern Europe and the like. It really is a Vampire's paradise."

Before I can ask anything else, the pilot informs us that we are coming in for a landing. I'd noticed the plane wasn't very big when we departed Louisiana but it feels a bit like its getting bounced around as we come in for a landing. It takes no more than a few minutes before I feel the wheels touch down and we begin to slow.

"We are down, Ms. Ravenscroft," the pilot says.

Pam smiles and goes to take off her seatbelt. Standing, she turns to me.

"Welcome to Norsgod, Sookie," she says and turns to head to the doors.

"Where?" I ask.

***0***

EPOV

I sit at my desk looking out at the night, or day whichever you want to call it.

I am actually getting a little feeling in my heart. Okay, perhaps it's not in my heart but she's close. Even without knowing the time they will arrive, I'd know that she was close.

"Eric," I hear from the door.

I turn to see Brandon Barrack walk into the room.

"Here are today's reports," he hands them to me.

I hold out my left hand to him and cringe when the papers meet my skin. Not wanting him to notice, I nod and place them on the table before grabbing my black glove and covering my hand. It does seem to help with the pain. I'm assured that, in time, the nerves will heal fully and I'll be able to touch things once more. Until then, I'll have to deal with the damn gloves.

"What does it say?" I ask without bothering to open the file.

"They have the cousin and the child. Since they can't find Miss Stackhouse they are turning their focus on finding the other one from that town," he says.

"What are they going to do with the child?" I look up at the man in front of me.

"They are unsure they can do anything. For all appearances he seems to be a normal boy. The blood in him seems to be diluted as the others," he points to the folder. "We have acquired the results of the first tests. To them, his connections and blood counts seem to be week. They are thinking that they will need to run tests in the next few days," he answers as I look through the papers. "If they can't find the other one, they may think that they can get something out o of the child. Up until now, they have been leaving the very young along. But I believe after the latest findings," he motions to the file again. "They are panicking."

I open the file and glance over the papers within it. I see the information on their latest results including what the facility in Louisiana is doing. They seem to be ahead of the other two and with the latest findings, I feel that they may be on the right track. Not as far as us, mind you, but at least that female doctor is looking in the right directions.

I then look at the information about their search for Sookie and the other girl from her town. It pleases me that they believe that Pam and Sookie are moving to the mid-west. Luckily, it will keep them off the trail for some time. I then look at the report on the other Fairy.

"Compton's progeny has taken the child?" I ask looking up at him.

He nods. "We have located them. Though, it wasn't difficult, our people believe that we may be three days ahead of the military, no more. We will need to work fast."

I nod. "Offer her the same as you have offered the others. Find out where they are holding her father and see if we can extract him as well. It will depend on where they put him. But make her aware of the danger she is in whether we can collect her father or not. She is a gold mind and they will stop at nothing if they get their hands on her," I sigh. It's true that they probably wouldn't get this close to a full Fairy and I'm not sure how that would go in the facilities. If those that are inflicted get a whiff of a Fairy that can't control its scent, the repercussions could be fatal, for everyone.

"We will make sure she sees reason," Barrack nod.

"I realize she is young, perhaps have Claire speak to her," I look at the file once more.

"That may be wise," he says. "The girl is very young by all accounts. Claire may be able to get through to her better than I. However, she has just now returned from the last trip."

I nod to him. 'I understand. Explain to her what is at stake. I'm sure she will be willing to travel again under the circumstances," I smile. "Claire is a calming soul for a human. She will find a place in her heart for this other Halfling, I'm sure of it. If it wasn't so dangerous, I'd suggest that she take Spencer but I do not wish to risk his him being found."

"Not to mention that we need him on the intelligence feeds," Barrack interjects.

"Indeed," I move to stand. It takes me longer than normal to do this and I watch as Barrack struggles with himself to not assist me. In the end, he stays where he is and allows me to do it myself. I nod my approval at his decision.

"Now what are we going to do regarding the young child?" I ask.

"According to our surveillance, they are going to move him down to the Louisiana facility the day after tomorrow. That is our window,," he hands me another file. I take it and read through it quickly. "If they get him in the facility, we may have issues. They beefed up the security and have double the guards since our last extraction."

I nod and hand him back the file "Make it so. He needs to be here sooner rather than later."

"What of the mother?" he asks.

I turn to look at him. "She sold her kin not once but twice," I growl at him. "For the child's sake, I hope she sees the benefit in him coming to us. However, if she causes any sort of problem, leave her."

"They will torture her trying to find out who took him," he says.

I close my eyes and take a breath that I no longer need. This is where my heart and my head conflict and it's all because of a blonde telepath.

"Try to get her to see reason," I say slowly. "But the child is our priority. She has proven, at least to me, time and time again, that all she thinks of is herself. If the mother can't see that this is the best and only option for her son, then she is not worth our time."

He says nothing and when I look at him, he nods.

"You meeting them I presume?" I ask changing the subject. Barrack has strong feelings about family. Perhaps because he lost his own at such an early age. In all the other extractions we've made, I agreed with him that getting the family to come along was beneficial to the one in danger. But this is different. I know this blood bag. She was Sophie-Anne's prize pet. She would do anything and did do anything to keep herself in the good graces of her Queen. The woman doesn't deserve our mercy but the child is another story. Besides, Sookie would never forgive me or herself if any harm came to him.

"I am heading out to wait for them now," he bows his head. "We will return shortly."

He turns to leave and look out the window once more as I watch the lights move in the distance. The sensation in my chest is getting warmer. I can feel her. For the first time in months, I can feel her. I can only hope that it is not my imagination. Moving to sit by the fire, I pull out a book I took while repairing her home. I know I shouldn't have but I couldn't help it. It has calmed me so many times over the last months. Turning to the first page I see a smiling three year old girl with bright eyes and pig tails smiling at the camera. Touching my lips, I touch the picture and sigh.

"I pray to Odin that you will understand," I say softly and switch to the next page smiling at another picture of the pig tailed child.

***0***

SPOV

We wait for the plane to taxi to a stop and everything seems to quiet within the cockpit. A few words are said on a phone between Claire and someone but I don't have the hearing that the Vampires have so I don't know what is said.

Before I can ask any more questions, Claire is before me, handing me a very long, very heavy fur coat.

"What is this for?" I ask.

"Sookie," Pam says and turns to me. "We are up in the Polar Cap. Eric would be very put out if we got you all this way only for you to freeze getting off the plane. You are still warm blooded are you not?" she asks as she puts on her own coat and the others do the same.

"If this is only for the warm bloods then why are you wearing one?" I ask her.

"It's very expensive and Eric bought it for me," she says as if it makes all the sense in the world.

We wait as the door opens and are ushered out.

The moment I feel the cold air I let out a gasp.

"You get used to it, Miss," the Pilot says. I turn to see that he's come of the cockpit. "It really doesn't take very long. Before you know it, you will not know the difference."

I highly doubt that. I didn't have the heart to tell him that other than a trip or two to Dallas, I've never left the state of Louisiana. The temperature very rarely drops below fifty in my part of the state. Snow very rarely falls and if it does, it's gone by morning. I don't think Bon Temps even owns a snow plow. Though, I've no idea how cold it is here but I don't think I'll be getting used to it any time soon. I vaguely remember learning about this part of the world when I was in school. There is a very good reason there aren't a lot of people who call this place home.

I head down the stairs after the others and we are quickly ushered into a waiting hummer that looks more like a stretch limo on steroids and off we go. The moment we are away from the plane, I strain to see out the windows. But with the tint on them and the darkness of the sky, I have a hard time making much out. Tara and Willa seem to be looking around as well and I'm sure with their sight, they can see a great deal more than I. Damn Vampires and their super abilities. Why couldn't Fairies be able to see in the dark or breathe under water or something really cool like that? No, all I got is sparkly hands and an ability to move myself from place to another. But the latter I don't seem to have a handle on yet. I don't even know how I was able to do it.

Looking out the window once more I try to look for anything that will give me a sense of the area. Squinting, I do see a few buildings here or there but nothing I can pinpoint.

"Where is Norsgod?" I ask the people in the vehicle. Not really caring who answers me.

"We are north of the Svalbard Islands. Eric acquired this island not long after he and Godric ventured to the area. He's owned it for about seven hundred years now," Pam says to me.

I turn to face her. "How many people live here?" I ask.

"Before the past half a year, there were less than fifty. Now, I think," she pauses. "We are around three hundred," she smiles at what I'm sure is my very shocked expression. "Until recently, it was far too cold to have you humans living here full time. Though, there were quite a few who weathered it just fine. Eric made a permanent compound here about five hundred years ago. He and Godric used to come here as a retreat. Until now, I found the area rather uneventful for my tastes."

"What changed?" I ask.

"Everything," is all she says.

We slow down and I look out to see what looks like what I'd expect a high end Spa or ski resort would look like.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"This is Eric's Villa," Pam says. "He requested that we come here first."

"His Villa," I look out the window again. "It looks more like a resort."

Since all I have is pictures and TV to go by, it does look like something that would look at home in Aspen and Vale. I've only seen a few movies that include skiing but that is what it looks like to me. Perhaps it's the mounds of snow everywhere. I wonder if this place ever gets green.

Looking again as we make our way around the circular driveway and up under the covered entrance I get a better view of the place. It isn't grand like I would assume a Vampire home would be. It isn't like the stately mansion I was taken to when Russell was still alive. I'd only seen pictures of Sophie-Anne's compound in a magazine, but it looked nothing like that. In the years since Vampire's have come out of the coffin, not many of them have had their places photographed. It really is a smart move on their part, if you asked me. But other than the renovations done on Bill's place, I really have nothing to compare this place too. Though, it does look, I don't know, like Eric in a way. In fact, it looks perfect on the snowscape surrounding it.

The car door is opened and we all file out in turn and are ushered to the front door. Someone opens it and I find myself in what looks like a grand entrance to a hotel. Only I don't see an elevator or a reception area. No, this hall has floor to ceiling windows and a fire in a corner fireplace. A fireplace, mind you that looks like you could stand in. The smell and warmth of it feels welcoming and soothing. The entrance way is modern with light floors and expensive looking lighting fixtures. The winding staircase on the right looks like it is almost floating.

"Welcome home," a man says from the side doorway.

I turn to see a delightful looking tall man with striking features and a gait in his walk that would make anyone take notice. Without him saying his name or me peeking into his head, I am assuming that this is Mr. Barrack.

"It is nice to be home," Claire says and smiles at the man.

He smiles back and turns to Pam. "Any issues?" he asks.

"None that we didn't expect," she says taking off her coat.

I follow suit and hand it to the two women that have joined us.

Once we are divested of our outer clothing, the man looks to us.

"I am Brandon Barrack," he begins. "I am Mr. Northman's assistant. He has asked that you kindly meet him in the lounge," he says and motions his hand to a door on the far side of the entrance.

Pam is the first to move followed by the rest of us.

We walk in silence down the hall, through and archway and down another hall. The farther we walk, the feeling I started to get early feels stronger. It's like it's pulling me in a direction. I can feel something and know that instinctively it isn't me. Without too much thought, I know that it has to be Eric but why after so much time am I only feeling him now?

Once we pass through another doorway, I know he is close. I quicken my pace and pass Pam to be the first through the door.

Once I'm through, I stop dead, looking at the tall man standing by the fire. He still has his back to me but I'd know him anywhere. He turns slowly, much slower than I've ever seen him move before. Granted, Eric did know how to move at Human speed but it didn't mean that he always did. In fact, I think he liked to see the shock on people's faces when he'd move at his normal speed. But now, he moves slowly and I can't take my eyes off him. His hair is shorter than it was before. Even in the low light, it seems lighter somehow than it was. If I'd have to give it a name, I'd say it was almost white. Sure his hair was light before, but this is even lighter than you would see on a toeheaded infant. His dress is the same, dark jeans, button down and boots. I trail up his body to his face. His smile is the same but his skin is what stops me. He is as ivory as he always was but his face is, shiny. Like what you see on burn victims that are recovering and growing new skin. The color of his lips is off and I can tell, even in this light that either he has no eyebrows or that they are as light as his hair.

I feel my legs move but I don't have the will to stop them. I walk up to him and stop only feet away. His eyes have never left me. It was like they knew I'd enter the room first. On closer examination his blue eyes are clouded somehow.

Reaching up to touch the side of his face, I feel him lean into me as he closes his eyes.

"Sookie," he says softly.

"Eric," I say as he places his gloved hand over mine.

Suddenly, I feel something between us. It's like it's always been there and I'm only just feeling it. I gasp when I feel it rush over me and do the only thing I can think of. I launch myself at the Vampire before me and wrap myself around him.

It only takes him a second to catch me. I feel his strong arms embrace me.

"How I've missed you," he says softly.

I say nothing but hold him tighter. As if I can't get enough of the feel of him. Like I've only learned to feel. The feeling is perfect, scary, and overwhelming all at the same time.

For the first time in my life, I don't care.

***0***


	6. Episode 6

Episode 6 – Blood and Pain

SPOV

I feel him flinch as I try to pull myself closer to him.

What, wait, Vampires don't flinch.

I look up to see blood tears in the corners of Eric's eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

He just looks at me for a moment without saying anything. The look in his eyes is so mixed I can't tell what he's thinking. The swirling of emotions almost makes me dizzy.

"Eric?" I ask.

Still, he says nothing.

I turn my head to look at the others in the room.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask.

Again no one says a thing.

"Someone better start talking," I say looking from Eric to Pam and then back to him. The look in his eyes stops me. He's in pain.

"It pains him to be touched," Pam says softly. I can tell by the tone of her voice that she can feel it too.

"What," I ask as I try to take a step back. I say try because Eric grabs onto my arm stopping my movement. This time I feel him flinch even more than before.

"No," he says softly. "I will take the pain as long as you are close to me."

I stand where I am, not wanting to cause him any more pain but I'm not going to stop asking questions.

"What happened to you?" I ask and turn to Pam. "What is wrong with him? Heal him," I turn back to Eric. "Get some donors in here and heal yourself. I've seen you heal from just about everything."

Neither one of them move.

"Eric, please," I say and try to stop the emotions welling up within me. I know in my gut that there is more going on here than they are telling me. Eric is hurt. He's in pain and I can just tell by the weariness on his face that he's been like this for a long, long time.

"Please," I say softly. "Please, tell me what happened. Why," I look into his blue eyes that still look cloudy to me. "Why are you like this? Are you sick?" I ask. "Is that why you have brought these people here? Have you gotten this," I look around. "Oh, hell, whatever is making the Vampires go nuts? Are you a Zombie now? Is that why you can't heal?"

I know these are all stupid questions. I know that he isn't one of those things I've heard about and saw coming towards the bar. The news footage showed them as mindless hordes with one thing on their mind, blood. Eric doesn't look like them and he is completely in control. So much so that if I didn't feel him flinch, I wouldn't know his pain. No, it can't be this Hep-V but I know that it's something else and I need to know. Something in me tells me that I've needed to know for quite some time.

"I am not sick," he says softly just above a whisper. "But I'm not well either."

"What happened to you?" I ask him.

"I was damaged," he says.

"Then heal. I thought you all healed anything?" I ask him.

"Different damages needed different kinds of healing, little Faerie," I hear from behind me.

I turn to see a short, stout woman walk in. She resembles something close to one of those creatures that run the bank in those Harry Potter movies, but more human than that, but just. I don't know how to explain it but I know on instinct that this, whoever she is, is not human.

"It has been awhile since we've seen one another," she says to me. "Though you were quite out of it the last time we met."

"Who," I look to Eric and then back to her. "Who are you?"

"Sookie," Eric smiles at me. "This is Doctor Amy Ludwig."

"A doctor?" I ask him.

He nods. "She is a doctor for the supernatural world. She was the one we called when you were attacked by the Maenad."

I nod and turn to her deciding to ask the hundred and one questions I have about a supernatural doctor and where they learn their skills later. Trying to put on my crazy Sookie smile and face the doctor.

"It's nice to meet you," I say nodding at her. Gran would never forgive me if I ever forgot my manners. "I didn't get to thank you then for your help."

She waves her hand. "No need to thank me, Faerie," she says. "The Norseman took care of my bill and that was all the thanks I needed."

I look back to Eric. "You did?" I ask him.

He nods slowly. "I was the one that called her to assist. I felt it was my duty to pick up the tab as the humans say."

I want to reach up and touch him. I want to show him how much I appreciate what he did, what he's always done for me. But the fact that touching me causes him pain, stops me from reaching out to him. Why is it bothering me that I can't touch him? I've shown restraint in the past. Why is this time any different?

"Thank you," I say. Hoping that my eyes are showing him exactly how I'm feeling right now. His returning smile tells me that he understands. That will have to do for now.

I may be able to feel his presence, his energy, but I can't feel him and I wish, above everything else right now that I could. I've no idea if our connection has faded that much over the past months or if he's doing something to stop me from feeling him. Before seeing him, I would guess the latter but now, I'm not sure if he has the strength to keep me out. That one thought breaks my heart just a bit more. Eric has never been weak and I hate to think that he is now.

He nods but I see many emotions rolling around in his eyes and I'm trying to take all of them in.

"So," I say after a few moments. "Are you going to tell me what happened to you?"

He sighs. "It would seem," he looks right into my eyes. "That when Warlow finally met his true death, I was neither in the right place nor at the right time of the day," he shrugs.

"I," I look up at him and then to Pam. "I don't understand. Where were you?"

"I," he pauses. "I was on a mountain top in Sweden."

"Okay?" I ask as a question.

"It was mid-day," he says to me as an answer.

Suddenly, I get it.

"You were in the sun," I say to him. "You…you started to burn."

All this damage, his skin, his hair, even his eyes were caused by the sun? I've seen him burn before, twice. How did he get so damaged before he could seek shelter?

He nods. "I didn't know what happened at first," he pauses. "I thought that perhaps the effects of taking the mix-breed's blood had worn off and I was getting my just reward," he smiles slightly. "I didn't know until later that you had ended him."

I shake my head. "I tried to end him but it was Jason who finished him off," I say. "I didn't know that it would…" my voice starts to crack. "I'm sorry," I shake my head again. "You got hurt and it's my fault. If I had just gone with him, agreed to do what he wanted…."

"No," Eric pulls me closer. "No, you did what you had to do for yourself. You would have been miserable with that creature. He would have made it his mission to destroy you. I understand that now. You didn't love him. You didn't belong to him no matter how many times he announced it to the universe." He says the last looking deeper into my eyes. As if he's willing for me to hear what he's saying.

A few hours ago, I wouldn't have gotten it. But I do now, thanks to Claudine.

"No," I shake my head. "I didn't belong to him. He wasn't meant for me. But you," I look him up and down. "You lost so much and then you got hurt. You were on a mountain top?" I ask.

He nods. "I had gone up there," he pauses before continuing. "I had gone up there in my arrogance wanting solitude to escape the world. There was nothing around for miles."

"How, how did you survive?"

He smiles. "It's funny what happens to snow when you apply such intense heat," he raises his very white eyebrow at me.

"You melted the snow?" I ask him. "How did that help?

"Yes, I melted the snow and started to sink. I'm not sure how long it was, but soon the walls around the area that melted, fell in on me. I was buried."

"How," I look around the room and then back to him. "You must have needed help. How did you get out of there?"

By looking at him he was certainly in no shape to dig himself out. At least not for some time.

"I was already in Sweden," Pam interjects. "I'd gotten a room at a Vampire safe hotel and was there for the day. I didn't want anyone to know that we found a way to walk in the sun and figured that Eric was doing the same. I didn't know a thing until I started to feel his pain. I almost ran out in the sun to go to him. But when I looked out the window, I felt the burn on my own skin and knew what was happening. I had to wait several hours until nightfall to go to him."

The pain Pam felt must have been excruciating. I don't think a human could survive it.

"You found him," I say turning to Pam who I see has blood tears in her eyes.

All she does is nod.

"But Eric, that was months ago," I say turning back to Eric. "Why haven't you healed?"

"I've healed much but," Eric pauses and turns to the doctor who is now standing at our side.

"We have a theory," Doctor Ludwig says. "But we will need to do some tests first."

"What theory?" I ask. When no one answers me I turn back to Eric. "Eric, what theory?"

He sighs and nods. "I, well, Doctor Ludwig and I feel is more going on than what one would assume. She feels that there is some bigger connection between us other than a blood bond we shared in your home."

I nod. "The Faerie blood. We are connected through the light."

He tilts his head to me. "How do you know that?"

"It doesn't matter," I shake my head. "I think I've known for a while but just recently had it confirmed. The light," I pause. "The light we shared after we blood bonded, it made a different connection between us. I think the Faeries call it sharing their light."

I wasn't going to say soul mates or anything like that. After all, for all I know, Eric wants nothing to do with me anymore. I'm not about to bare my soul in front of all these people either. That is something Eric and I will need to discuss, in private. The fact that we shared light seems to not be a secret. I'd rather that intimate portion of our connection was kept between us but I'm not surprised either. Vampires always had a problem with priority and limits. Sex and intimacy with them is seldom kept in the bedroom.

"Well," Ludwig says. "It seems our little Faerie knows more than we thought, Norseman. This may be easier than I had originally thought."

"What do I know?" I ask.

"Just what you stated little Faerie. You and the Norseman shared light. It is a very sacred and profound connection between two. It has many ramifications but I've never seen it occur between a Vampire and a Faerie."

Maybe because the Vampire would end up eating the Faerie before the exchange could occur. I know catty but I'm just saying.

"The theory is that since you have shared light and are connected that the Norseman needs that connection in order to complete his healing," the doctor says before Eric can say anything.

"You need my blood?" I ask him.

He just looks at me without saying anything.

"And your light," the doctor interjects. "But again, it's a theory. We will need to do some tests before we risk anything."

"How long have you had this theory?" I ask without looking away from him.

"After the Norseman told me his story and how he was connected to the situation in Louisiana I thought that this connection may be the reason he wasn't healing faster," Ludwig answers me.

"When was that?" I ask again.

"About five months ago," he says to me softly.

"Five months?" I ask and take a step closer. "You have been in pain for five months and you didn't call me? You didn't have Pam come and get me? You could have even called Willa or Tara. I would have come to help you."

He shakes his head. "It was just a theory and I promised you I was out of your life."

"Bull," I growl at him. "Eric you were in pain. You need my blood," I say holding up my arm. "I would have given it to you then and I'll give it to you now!"

He backs away. "No," Eric, Pam and this Barrack person all say together.

"Young one," Doctor Ludwig steps forward. "No one takes blood that hasn't been tested and filtered."

"What?" I ask and look at the strange creature. "I've been tested for the Hep-V. I'm clean."

"There is more going on than just that virus, Faerie. We need to test you to make sure you cannot harm the Norseman. You will come with me and we will begin the testing immediately. Then we will see what you can do to help him."

"But," I say looking at Eric. "I don't," I shake my head.

"I know," he says and leans in to kiss my forehead. I close my eyes when I feel his cool lips touch my skin. Suddenly I feel a wave of something run through me. I'd felt it before. I felt it the first time Eric touched me. Damn, that feels like a lifetime ago. I dismissed it then but not this time. I look up into his eyes as he moves back.

"Go with the doctor and we will talk again when you are done," he smiles at me.

I wait a moment not knowing what to say. Finally, I nod to him and turn to the doctor. "Let's make this quick," I turn back to Eric. "We have a lot to talk about."

He smirks at me. "Indeed."

I turn to follow the doctor out of the room but not before I look back at Eric who is being helped into a chair by both Pam and Barrack.

"Let's make this quick," I say to the doctor. "We need to get him well."

"I've been telling him that for months now," she huffs. "Stubborn Vampire," she hisses out.

I say nothing because really, what can I say?

***0***

Doctor Stork POV

I look at the computer as the Senior Chief looks over the papers we've sent to him.

"You are positive this is accurate?" He asks.

"Yes, Sir," I nod. "It is not what we thought and Wyoming is not on the right track," I pause. "As you can see there are two distinct strains. What we are dealing with now has nothing to do with the initial infection. This is completely different and has been from the beginning."

He taps something on a laptop beside him. I'm sure it's going through our newest findings.

"So you think this is another attack on Vampires," he says with no question in his voice.

"Sir," I pause. "We've sent you the report but I think there is more to this than we thought."

He raises his eyes and refocuses on me. "Go on, Doctor."

"Sir," I sigh. "Sir, I think Mrs. Newlin knows more than she is telling us. It was under her advisement that we thought that this new strain was similar to the one used in the Tru Blood. As you can see," I point to the papers in front of me, "that information was false. I believe she has purposely sent us on a wild goose chase. It was only by chance that we went back and retested the bottles we found at the Vampire Facility."

"What caused you to do that?" he asks.

"One of my assistants saw something and wanted a fresh sample to test against. We are the only facility that currently has any of the initial infection."

That is something else that always struck me as odd. In all of that facility and the bottling plant, we couldn't find one single drop of the virus. It was only after one of our guys found the case, hidden that we had any. Very curious, indeed.

"Doctor Rayden in Wyoming and Senator Douglas in Louisiana assure me that she's told us all that she knows and that she's been very forthcoming with everything."

"Sir, with all due respect, Senator Martin Douglas was a very close friend of the late Governor."

"You are accusing a US Senator of being in league with Burrell?" he asks.

"I didn't say that," I pause. "I don't know what his involvement was with the Vampires and Burrell but I don't think we should rule out that he had similar desires to the ones of the Governor."

"Doctor," he leans forward, "that is a very strong accusation to level against a United States Senator. If Burrell was still alive, he'd be facing about 100 different charges for what he unleashed on us. You think for one moment that the Government didn't look into who else could have been in on this?"

"No Sir, I'm sure your people did a thorough job in weeding out his co-conspirators."

If knocking on doors and asking people if they were involved was thorough, that is.

"Then I hope you have a little more than your instincts to back up your accusations," he huffs.

"Sir, I have the facts. Sarah Newlin is no more than the Zealot she was when her husband was alive. We know that she encouraged Burrell to eradicate the Vampires in Louisiana. We know that it was her money that was used to create the Vampire Facility."

"She explained that she offered the money to Burrell to assist him in understanding the Vampires. She has already told us she didn't know that he was planning on executing them," he responds.

Man, she has them all believing the 'babe in the woods' routine.

"Sir, she was also the only human to get out of that facility alive. How did she manage that?"

"She said someone took pity on her," he answers. "There are good people out there even when there is a riot going on. Besides, we don't know if she was the only one. She is the only one that came forward to tell us what happened."

"Yes," I nod at him. "She knew what happened. She knew about the Tru Blood being contaminated, she knew about the abductions across the state and she knew that Burrell had manufactured items to protect Humans against the Vampires as well as destroy them. By the way, no one has heard from the representative from Tru Blood, have they?"

I watch as McAvoy types something else on his computer and then shakes his head.

"Ms. Suzuki has not been seen in Louisiana," he pauses. "We are unaware of where she is and her company is not giving us much of anything. The last thing they heard was that she was coming to assess the factories here and then she was supposed to report back to them regarding how fast they can get the facilities up and running. The company seems to be folding but the Delegation is working with them to see what can be done."

"But I thought that it was decided not to reopen the factories?" I ask him.

"We have to do something, doctor," he huffs. "We have God knows how many Vampires in this country as well as around the world. We need to make it safe for humans again and those Vampires need to feed. We need to get the factories up and running and we need to calm this hysteria. We need to come up with a way to keep those Vampires not infected from turning on the American people. Some areas have already reported that the tension is getting high and we need to act."

"What makes you think any Vampire will be willing to drink something they know was poisoned?" I ask him.

"Doctor, let us worry about that," he shakes his head. "You have enough on your hands. Now, let's get back to this accusation. You honestly believe that Mrs. Sarah Newlin has anything to do with this," he waves his hand, "this new or different strain of the outbreak? You honestly think we would allow her into the DE USC if we weren't 100% confident we were on the same agenda? Christ Doctor, she was the one that told us about the Tru Blood and the contamination. She was the one that helped us find the other shipments."

I shake my head. "She has her own agenda Sir and it has nothing to do with helping us. I think the Senator and Doctor Rayden in Wyoming are either with her or are blinded by the act she's playing."

"You think that we are all that stupid?" He asks.

"No Sir," I say to him. "I think she is that good at manipulating situations to her desires. She has been stepping up ladders since her husband was turned. First they had the church. Then she gets into bed with a man who wants to eliminate Vampires from the earth. Not unlike her precious husband, I might add. Now she seems to be cuddling up to a Senator that not only was friends with Burrell but has ties to this church she ran."

He leans forward. "Doctor, you cannot accuse people of ulterior motives because they have like religious views. That is not how we work."

"I know what I heard, Sir. She believes that Vampires have this illness because it's God's will. She has no intention of helping us find a cure. Hell, I don't even know what she's doing in the facilities."

"She is reporting back to the DE USC on findings. She is working with us on the PR crap that is sure to hit the fan soon. Reports of these Zombie Vampires are coming in from almost every state now. Some of the reports are as far away as Western Europe and the Middle East. They are few and far between but they are here. We are going to need someone like her to assist us."

"You mean a pretty face that can smile at the cameras?" I growl at him.

"I suggest you watch your tone, Doctor. You are not the only one working on a cure. You can be replaced."

"With all due respect to you and the other members of the Delegation, I think you are the ones that need to watch yourselves. We are the only facility that has determined the difference between these two strains. We are sitting in the hot seat of the epidemic and we are the ones that are taking chances. Wyoming and Nevada have found nothing new and are only pumping drugs into the handful of Vampires they have out there. Most of the test subjects are here. In fact, I heard from Wyoming this morning. They are sending us three more test subjects that they don't think they can use. What makes you think they are doing anything other than spinning their wheels."

"You think highly of yourself, don't you doctor?" He asks me.

"I think highly of my team," I say to him. "They are top notch and I couldn't work without them."

"Yet, you are without two stars you were supposed to acquire last night," he smirks at me.

"Again, with all due respect, we were following a Vampire you assured us could get us what we needed. He was the one that fucked this up, not us."

He leans back. "He's come through for us up until now. Perhaps you don't know how to motivate him."

"What we have is a Vampire that thinks he's in charge of this operation. Not the other way around. With this new information," I hold up the file. "Everything he gave us is useless. All the data he acquired will do nothing to assist us with this new virus. We need to find the source. Then we can find a cure."

"Start cutting into the test subjects. Let's see what this virus is doing to live victims," he waves his hand.

"You don't get it, Sir," I lean forward. "What is happening to these, well these test subjects that have this DNA anomaly is not the Hep-V virus. It isn't even this new strain. They are sick because of something else. With this information about the Stackhouse woman, I don't think there is any part of them that is human. Or at least, the part that makes them different isn't human."

"Yes," he sighs. "You say that they saw her disappear. How do you explain that?"

"I can't and neither can you. But when Tisdale finds her, I'll let you know what we find. But that doesn't change the fact that we need more information. Compton doesn't have it and Newlin isn't going to give it up."

"I still find it hard to believe that you think Sarah Newlin is up to something," he says.

"Listen to this," I say and start the recording of our latest encounter with the blonde bitch.

We sit in silence listening to the conversation between Sarah and myself. When it's done, I wait for Senior Chief McAvoy to say something.

"Does she know that she was being recorded?" He asks.

I shake my head.

"Good," he sighs. "I'm not saying that I agree with you but I will make inquiries with regards to her and the Senator. This doesn't change the fact that we have a hell of a lot more work to do," he tents his fingers. "You think this Stackhouse woman would be of some help?"

I nod. "I've never seen blood like hers before. It is like none of the other test subjects we've collected. I need to do further tests but I can promise you that Compton wouldn't have given her up if we didn't find out about her from that cousin of hers. You know that as well as I. It only begs the question; what else is he not telling us?"

"I don't know," McAvoy says as he types something on his laptop again. "Have him help with finding the young Miss Stackhouse. If she is that important to him to risk his existence, there may be something else going on here. Find her, use her to have Compton give us any other information he can and then have Tisdale execute his orders."

"Sir?" I ask as a question.

"Come now, Doctor Stork," he smiles. "You really don't think I would allow a murderer to walk away like that do you? Bill Compton may be a bestselling author and he may believe he is above the human law but he is sadly mistaken. He's been finally dead for some time. He just hasn't known to lie down."

I wait a moment thinking about what he is saying. I guess McAvoy is smarter than I thought.

"What about Sarah Newlin?" I ask.

"You let me deal with Sarah and the Senator. You work on finding out how this shit started and how we are going to end it."

He leans even further forward. "We are running out of time, Doctor. If we don't fix this, we are going to be in a middle of a war. Vampires won't sit by forever. I for one don't want to see it come to that."

"You think they would revolt?" I ask.

"I think they have walked this earth for millions of years without being detected by humans. I think if we don't control this situation, they will do it and I don't think they will sit by and allow those they think were trying to murder them live."

I say nothing for a moment.

"Let's hope your team is as good and you believe them to be. If what you say is true about Sarah and the others, you are our only hope."

He disconnects from the conversation without even a goodbye. Leaning back in my chair and close my eyes. Yeah, well that's not a big rock he's put on my shoulders.

"What does he think we are going to do?" my assistant asks me.

I turn to look at him. "Pretty much he's ordered us to save the human race."

"Well shit," he sighs.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up now doesn't it?

***0***

EPOV

Pam has ordered that several glasses of blood be brought to me. I have drank them knowing that they will help but it isn't what I need.

"We needed her here months ago," Pam says to me.

"We will not be discussing this again, Pamela," I say and look at the file that Barrack had given me before he left. I knew that time was of the essence. He needed to get back to Dallas before night fall if we were going to get the other Faerie before Compton's progeny awoke for the day. Again, I would never allow those idiots to get their hands on a Fae that was that pure. I'd hoped we had more time. I honestly didn't think that Compton would have steered them to Bon Temps but I should have known after Hadley was found, it wouldn't be long until they found Sookie.

If I was being pragmatic, I would have taken the other one when we took Sookie but when am I ever pragmatic when it comes to my little Faerie? No, Sookie makes me do things that I'd never have thought of in my very long life. Some may find that a weakness. Perhaps they are right but that doesn't change a thing. Sookie has always been first for me and she always will be.

"Then have Ludwig take her blood in the lab and give it to you. What are you waiting for?"

"As I told you before," I look up at her. "Whether or not I take her blood will be her choice. Not mine, not yours and certainly not by force or misrepresentation. It's not how it works and you know it."

"I know that you are still in need of time to heal that we don't have. If you allowed me to go get her when we first realized what was happening, we would not be in this mess," she waves her hand above her head.

"Me being well would not change the mess we are in and what mess other Vampires find themselves in, Pamela. You are being irrational."

"When have you given a flying fuck about any Vampires that didn't belong to you," she puts a hand on her hip. "Damn it, Eric. You wouldn't even let me take Tara and Willa away from that two stoplight town. What if they were infected? What if they contracted that shit and we lost them?"

"They were instructed only to drink the blood we sent them, where they not?" I ask her. "I needed them there," I look down at the file once more.

"To watch your little Faerie play house with the dog?" she growls. "Seriously Eric, it always comes back to Sookie and her fucking Faerie pussy. What is so good about it, anyway that you would risk your life and mine time and time again? If you had just listened to me for once when it comes to her we could be long gone and not have to worry about a fucking thing!"

"Watch how you talk, child," I growl at her. "You know what Sookie is to me."

"Yeah, and you have purposely suffered because she was too blind to see what was right in front of her face. Eric when are you going to learn?"

"She is here now," I say to her. "As for the rest you know what will happen if we don't stop all of this. You heard Ludwig and the others. You heard what I did about the fucking disaster we face. How can you be so blind and stubborn? You know the why. I told you I needed to do this. You have been released you know, you don't have to stay."

"And go where?" she asks. "Did you see the report? This shit is popping up in Europe now. How the fuck is it popping up so far away from the source?"

"I've got an idea, but I need more information. We will need to speak with Spencer about it tomorrow," I say. "Today he is tracking a few more Fae and I will have Barrack alert the others about bringing them in."

She growls. "I fucking hate this Hero, saving the world, Eric you have become. You know that don't you?"

"Now Pam," I say holding back a laugh. "You know I'm just as much of a business man as I've always been. When our new bottled blood hits the market, we will have more money than we will know what to do with."

"You have more money than you know what to do with now. That doesn't impress me," she mumbles.

"Be that as it may," I stand and wince at the pain. "If you choose to stay, you will honor my wishes where Sookie is concerned."

"You know I'm not going to leave you," she says.

I smile. "I know," I say coming around the desk and touching the side of her cheek. I've no idea how I would have survived that terrible day if it wasn't for my child. I hope that my eyes tell her this because I've yet to find the words to show my gratitude.

"Everything will be fine," I say to her. "You must believe that."

She says nothing and after a moment, she leaves the room. I walk slowly over to the window and look out once more.

I have to believe that everything will work out. The alternative is unthinkable.

***0***

Sarah's POV

I cross my legs again, sit back in the plush leather seat and sip on the champagne that the flight attendant served me. I sigh leaning back. I do love flying on private jets. I should have suggested to Steve we get one of these long ago. But then again, he was so cheap I don't think he'd ever pay for something like this. A new church, compound or any of the other things he built, sure. But this, well, this would have been out of the question. Luckily the class of my companions has been raised since then.

"Is there anything else you require, Mrs. Newlin?" the flight attendant who I think is named Tanya asks.

"No thank you," I give her my best smile. "You all have been so nice to me. I'll be sure to let the Senator know when I see him."

She nods and walks away. I lean back and watch her retreating form. I know what she's thinking. I know what they are all thinking. Even that stupid doctor was thinking it. They all want what I have. But they aren't going to get it.

I look out the window and smile at the sun. The sun, the light is ours and none of those ridiculous, unholy creatures will take that away from us. I will do what I have to in order to succeed with God's plan. He has given me this path and I intend on seeing it through.

Just then my phone rings. I look at it and smile.

"Martin, darling," I say with a smile. "Oh, thank you for sending me your private jet. It's perfect and you do know how to treat a girl."

"Sarah," he whispers. "Baby, I can't talk right now. Renee and the kids are getting ready for our next press conference but I wanted to make sure you are in the air."

I try not to growl into the phone. His wife needs to be removed from this equation. Martin Douglas is headed to the White House and I intend on joining him. We will do wonders from there. Much more than Burrell was doing and definitely much more than that pathetic waste of a husband I had. No, I just have to bide my time. Get his wife into a place where we can easily have an attack and then unleash an infected Vampire on her. Then I'll slip right into her place, my rightful place. God will help me. He always does.

"Yes, darling," I say to him. "I'm in the air and heading to you. When can I see you?" I ask him.

"We are heading to the press conference and then heading back to the house. When you land, head to the apartment and I'll meet you there when I can."

Translation, I won't see him tonight.

"Martin, honey," I say with a little song in my voice. "Sweetie did you get the latest shipment of the syringes out?" I ask him.

"Shhh," he hushes me. "Sarah we are not talking about this over the phone. Now, I'll see you later and know that I can't wait to see you," he is silent for a minute. "Will you," he pauses. "Will you wear the red ones tonight?" He almost growls.

I roll my eyes. This man sure loves shoes; the higher and sexier the better. I guess it could be worse. His kink could run in so many different directions. Goodness, I don't even have to put on any lingerie. All he needs are the shoes.

"Would you like the four inch heels or the ones that strap around my ankle?" I ask him in a sultry voice.

"Oh, God," he whispers. "Either, either ones baby," I hear something that distracts me. "I'll be there tonight," he says and hangs up.

I lean back and sip the rest of my champagne smiling to myself. Using the syringes to get to the Vampires is ingenious if I do say so myself. All the blood we are taking are using the syringes provided to the technicians by a company donating them to the cause. I take another sip. It just so happens, that I own the company. Of course, it's under a dummy name and completely untraceable but it's still mine. The blood comes out and the virus goes into the humans. It's perfect. If those fool phlebotomists don't know what they are looking for, they won't find it. Then, when a Vampire drinks from the human, they start to get infected. Every time they drink, they contribute to their death just a little more. Sure, the new way will be slower than the first time we tried it. But over time, the Vampires will just go crazy and eventually meet their end. It's perfect.

The only problem was that we didn't get the syringes to Bon Temps in time. Stupid shipment getting lost. Who can't find a town? Goodness me, there must be such evil in that town to thwart God's plan so much. I should have known it for some time but I just didn't want to see it. First thing I'll have Martin do is get rid of that town to tip the scales of justice to good once more. Yes, that will do. It's really too bad. I'll miss Jason. He was always fun. But he's thrown his soul in with that unholy lot. He'll burn with the rest of them.

I smile again at the simplicity of it all. God has surely been good and shown me the way. As long as I stay on this path, I'll be rewarded, I know I will. I just have to follow the path, wherever that leads me.

Picking up my phone, I dial a number.

"Yes," he says.

"I want her out of the way as soon as possible," I say without even a hello.

"We are working on it," he says. "But it won't be easy."

"Of course it will be easy," I smile again. "It's all in the plan."

***0***


	7. Episode 7

_**A/N Sorry for the delay with this. You see – sometimes I get what Sephrenia calls, "Add-On-Its." It is contagious but no one seems to mind when I get a flare up. So, I went back to this Episode and added about 3K more words to it. Again, no one seems to mind when this happens but it does cause delays in posting. I'm sorry.**_

_**Okay, so….we gotta talk about Sunday's episode.**_

_**Did anyone else find the HBO's first episode seriously Anticlimactic ? Yeah, me too.**_

_**I do have a lot of questions regarding the episode and I will post them between the *** so if you haven't seen the episode, please scroll down. You ready? Okay…**_

_**Okay, for those of you who have seen the episode or those of you who just are curious, here are my questions.**_

_**1) WTF – Tara's off in the first five minutes? Seriously? Who did she piss off?**_

_**2) All of a sudden Sookie can't keep out of peoples heads? Again WTF?**_

_**3) You would think after 6 seasons, Sookie would learn not to walk home when Armageddon is approaching in the dark with crazy ass Vamps who can smell her blood. How dumb is this chick? She seriously gives us blondes a bad wrap.**_

_**4) What was the point of playing Russian Roulette?**_

_**5) Alcide thinks all the town's problems are because of Sookie and she says sorry and jumps in bed with him? Really? Again – WHAT THE FUCK!**_

_**6) What did Jessica think she was going to accomplish by staying out side as the sun rose? The Flipping Vamp is dying. He isn't going to run for shelter. Now she's giving redheads a bad name.**_

_**7) What happen to Sookie's boobs (that one came from my husband)?**_

_**8) What was up with the map that they flashed and Pam wouldn't allow us to see?**_

_**9) How are kids the only ones not infected and if they are why are the Hep-V Vamps in Bon Temps taking people? Stupid Vamps.**_

_**10) Did anyone think that that dude that was jumping all over Sam about being a dog looks like Burrell?**_

_**11) Sam doesn't seem to upset that the Vamps have his wife and daughter? You would think he and Alcide could sniff them out a bit. And why did he turn into a dog and not something that could fly?**_

_**12) Wait…Vamps can smoke a bong? Um… yeah.**_

_**So, now that I got the questions out of the way, I think we could have a contest… Who was the stupidest person (human or creature) of the episode. What do you think?**_

_**My vote goes for Sookie. Seriously girl, walking in the dark in Bon Temps = dead blond chick.**_

_**Thanks to my Beta Goddesses and of course my partner in crime. Thank you to all who are reading this and recommending it to other groups and sites. Thank you very much. You are making my day.**_

_**So, please, read, respond, post your own questions and don't forget to give us your vote for Stupidest creature of the episode (not ours, HBO's version) (Laugh- you know that was funny).**_

***0***

Episode 7 It's a Dog eat Dog World

***0***

Alcide's POV

I walk out onto the porch as Sam pulls up. After our little conversation, it was suggested by Nicole that we both get the hell out of her house. Not wanting to upset his very pregnant wife, Sam decided he was going to look around town for some answers and I was going to see what I could find at the farmhouse. Since he really didn't have anywhere else to go, we'd decided to meet back at the Farmhouse at three which incidentally was almost an hour ago. I'm hoping his lateness means he found something, anything that could help us with our current situation.

Watching him get out of the car, he looks around before heading up to meet me.

"Find anything?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "It ain't good Alcide. No one has seen hide nor hair of any of them," he says. "Lafayette is gone too."

"What you mean Lafayette is gone? We just saw him at your fucking shing-dig last night," I growl at him. "He was there and so were those two Vamps!"

"I'm telling you what I know, Alcide," Sam says to me. "Lafayette ain't home and he ain't at the bar. He didn't show and he didn't call. No one knows where Tara and Willa are either. When I went to talk to Arlene, she said she saw them both leave the party about an hour after you and Sookie did. Jessica show up for a few minutes last night but Arlene said that she told them she had something to do."

"I talked to a few people down in town. The rumor is that the authorities took Andy last fucking night after a Vamp took off with Adilyn. From what I'm hearing, it was only one Vamp and I think it was Jessica but only Bill will be able to confirm that. Holly is going crazy down at the police station. Jason is trying to keep her calm but she wants answers as do a lot of people. Jason is trying to assure them that it wasn't one of those Hep-V Vamps and that we aren't certain it was a Vamp at all but no one's buying that. Holly said she showed up just in time to see the military take Andy and they wouldn't give her any answers."

"So Jason's still in town?" I ask him not really caring about the rest of his story.

I know I should care but right now we have enough on our plate. Sookie was my concern, Adilyn isn't.

Maybe things aren't as bad as we think if he's still around. After all, if there is one thing I know is how much Sookie cares about those she considers family. There is no way she would leave her brother here to swing in the wind if she knew what was planned for her. She would know that Jason would be the first person they'd use to get to her if she ran. Hell, it really is only logical. If she knew what was going on then she'd tell everyone close to her to run. If Jason didn't, then we still may have a chance in finding her and convincing her to come back. It's either that or we will all be up the creek without a paddle.

"Yeah Jason's down at the police station but he ain't saying shit," Sam says as he throws his hands up and walks to the other side of the porch. "He told me that someone from the government will be around tonight to explain what happened out at Andy's place. All he'd say was that it had something to do with his own protection."

"What the hell did Andy do?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "I don't know but Holly says that the military guys were claiming it had something to do with a Vampire attack but you and I know that's bullshit because the only Hep-V Vamps were the ones the military had. So either Andy went after them when they tried to take Adilyn or they are holding him until they can find her."

"What did he say about the rest of them?" I ask.

He shrugs. "He said that he'll have to check with Shreveport PD if we think something happened to Tara or Willa. That until we can have someone check the bar and their home that nothing can be done and the fact that Lafayette isn't home doesn't mean anything's wrong. We can't file a missing person until he's gone for 72 hours anyway and he said at this point, the best person to inform that Tara and Willa are missing is Bill but he doesn't know that Bill is back in town so he said he would try to contact him tonight. It's looking like Pam took her away like you all thought. She doesn't seem to be anywhere in town and no one has seen her. If they are all hiding together than no one is talking."

I shake my head. I was still holding out hope that Pam used the plane as a diversion and she's somewhere around Shreveport. Sookie wouldn't just up and run. It isn't like her to do something like that. Not when everything she loves is here. I can't see her running off with Pam like that but it's starting to look like she's done just that.

"Well, did you tell Jason that we think his sister is missing?" I ask walking over to him getting even more frustrated.

"Yeah, I told him." he nods. "He wanted to know why you weren't down there talking to him yourself. He told me to go home and he'd come and check on Sookie as soon as his shift was done. But since you weren't the one that was reporting it he would wait and see for himself." he shakes his head. "I'm telling ya, Alcide, he knows something. Stackhouse ain't ever been what you would call bright or even considerate of others but he's always worried about Sookie. If he thought for one minute Sookie was in harm's way, he'd come running. This just ain't right."

"If he knows something, then why isn't he gone too?" I ask. "If he knew about Sookie, Bill and those military asshats, why wouldn't he be gone like those Vamps and Lafayette?"

"I don't fucking know Alcide, alright! All I know is what he fucking told me. If you wanted more information why didn't you call him yourself?"

"Cause I was here trying to find anything that would tell me what she knew and where she was headed," I say as I start to pace the length of the porch. "I am walking a razor's edge here, Merlotte. If I make too many waves, I can make things worse. If anyone gets wind that I'm making inquiries on the woman I love and her friends, I'm afraid that Tisdale would either get pissed or take someone he thinks will help him use against her," I rub the back of my neck with my hand. "Sookie will never forgive me if I mix her brother up in all this."

"Like the military wouldn't know that he's her brother, Alcide," he shakes his head at me. "They are probably going to come and get him and make it look like he's working for them or something. Oh, and you think getting her brother involved will upset her? Never mind that it was your idea to give her to those military people in the first place."

"Don't you think I know that?" I scream at him. This cluster fuck just keeps getting better. "Look, they promised Bill to leave all her friends and family alone if she didn't put up much of a fuss. Bill knew that if Sookie knew that her friends and family were in danger, she'd do what they asked once they got her to the facility. But now with her gone," I shake my head. "I don't know what they'll do."

Shit, that means, my ass is in the fire now as well as Sam's and Nicole's. Fucking Bill and his ideas. He's gonna get us all killed.

"This is nuts," I shake my head. "There is no way that she could have known what was up."

"You don't know that," he says. "She could have known about this for a while or do you forget what she can do?"

"I made sure that I never thought about it," I say to him. "Plus, she made me a promise to never look into my head. She thought it was rude," I sigh.

It's a good thing too. I had convinced her that our relationship wouldn't survive if she was constantly in my head. She agreed and there has been more than one occasion I was thankful for that.

"She could have been faking it, ya know," he says.

I look back at Sam. "She ain't that good of an actress. I'd smell it on her if she was lying. Hell, if she had been talking to Pam, I'd have smelled that too. As it was, she hadn't seen Tara in over a week."

"You sure of that?" he asks.

"Of course I'm fucking sure," I growl at him. "I've made sure that I've known where she is at all times."

"Now why would you be keeping tabs on your girl, Alcide?" Sam asks.

"Cause he didn't want her to know what he does when he's off for a run," I hear behind me. "The same reason he doesn't want the little cream puff in his head."

I turn quickly and growl at the person walking up the steps.

"Rikki, what the fuck are you doing here?" I ask her.

"Oh what's the matter Lover?" she smirks at me and spreads her arms wide. "She ain't here. I'd smell her if she was."

"What the fuck, Alcide?" Sam asks. "I thought you were done with the pack?"

"Oh, he is," she says as she climbs the stairs. "But you can't control that animal instinct, now can you baby?"

"Rikki, you need to leave," I growl and I know my eyes are turning. "NOW!"

"You're not my Pack Master anymore, baby. I don't take orders from you."

I move quickly to block her way and growl. She growls right back.

God that does things to me and she knows it. Her smirk tells me she knows exactly what she's doing.

"You Son of a Bitch!" Sam screams at me. "You've been cheating on Sookie?"

"Oh," Rikki smiles at Sam and then looks back at me. "That's not how Pack sees it. Isn't that right, Alcide?"

"What the fuck is she talking about?" Sam growls again.

"Rikki," I say a little calmer. "This isn't the time for this. You need to leave."

"Why?" she moves closer to me. "Like I said. I know your little cream puff isn't here. We've got time."

She takes one more step and I get a better whiff of her. God damn she smells good. Fuck this is killing me.

"Alcide you better start talking!" Sam yells at me. "You said you were going to protect Sookie. Now I find out not only did you fuck up last night but that you were taking this Wolf Bitch on the side?"

"Hey," Rikki growls. "I might be a Bitch but you are a fucking dog, shifter. Don't think I forgot there is a score to settle between you and me."

"Rikki, that's enough. Go now," I say to her.

"No," she says as she saunters around me and goes to sit in one of the rockers. "I think it's time you let the cream puff know that her garden isn't the only one you sniff around, Alcide. She needs to know what the deal is and I'm tired of waiting in the shadows for you to find time for me."

"Rikki," I say again in warning but she just smiles knowing that I won't hurt her.

I wouldn't kill her before and I damn well won't hurt her now. The Bitch has me by the balls and she knows it.

"What she talking about Alcide.."

The wind changes and Sam stops right in the middle of his sentence and turns to look at Rikki who has a full out smile now.

Sam turns back to me. "She's pregnant."

It wasn't a question so I don't answer.

"You fucking asshole," Sam growls. "You weren't ever going to leave with Sookie were you?"

"Of course I was," I say to him.

Rikki jumps up.

"You were going to what?" she tilts her head to the side.

"Rikki, now is not the time," I say to her holding up one hand to stop her advance.

"What the fuck did the dog mean, Alcide?" she moves closer. "Where were you going with the cream puff? You have a fucking responsibility to me, to our kind and to this pup!" she points to her belly. "Tell me you weren't planning on skipping out on your responsibility?"

"Alcide what the fuck!" Sam yells.

I pull my hands through my hair and growl. "ENOUGH!"

I turn to look at Sam. "Look, you're a shifter. You don't understand this mating shit."

"What mating shit?" he asks.

"It's a pull for our kind to mate," Rikki says. "We need to keep our numbers and when the strongest of the pack come together they make the strongest pups."

"You are telling me you fucked her to add to the pack?" Sam shakes his head.

"It's more complicated than that, okay?" I shake my head. "I didn't have a choice."

"Yeah, right," Sam says and goes to walk away.

"Where the fuck are you going?" I ask him.

"I'm going to figure out how to save this fucking town, Alcide. I need to make sure that the shit doesn't hit the fan after last night."

"Sam, we need to find her before they do or…" I start to say when he swings around.

"Or what?" he asks. "Clearly, you have a whole other life that you didn't want any of us to know about. You were cheating on a woman that you said you loved and I think you were going to leave her to fucking swing in the wind."

"That's not true," I say walking towards the stairs. "I was going to protect her. This," I turn to look at Rikki, "this thing with her was a Wolf thing. It had nothing to do with Sookie. I'm expected to increase our numbers. I couldn't do that with Sookie."

"And you expected her to go along with that?" he laughs. "Do you fucking know that woman at all? Hell," he throws up his hand. "I'm beginning to think she's better off with Northman. He's the only one that hasn't fucking lied to her."

"You know that's not true," I growl back.

"Is it?" he asks. "Bill's lied to her since day one. I didn't tell her what I was until I had too. That fuck Warlow wanted to control her and you," he points to me. "You say you love her, make her change just about everything about herself to please you and you thank her by fucking a Wolf Bitch behind her back to get a puppy out of it."

He shakes his head and gets into his car.

"We need to figure this out," I yell as he starts the car.

"I'm done, Alcide," he says. "I should have never believed you or Compton."

He turns the car around and heads back down the drive without giving me one look.

I stand there for a moment trying to calm the fuck down.

"What did he mean, Alcide?" Rikki asks. "You were going to leave me here with your kid?"

"Fucking not now, Rikki," I say and turn around. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

She looks at me for a moment without saying anything.

"Well?" I ask her.

"Fine," she growls. "I heard there was trouble with some Hep-V vamps last night and I wanted to make sure you were okay," she huffs and crosses her arms.

"So you come to my house when you know Sookie would be here to find out?" I ask her.

"She wouldn't have known I was here," she stands and walks toward me. "I was just going to wait in the woods," she puts a hand up to my face. "I know you would have smelled me sooner or later."

I close my eyes at her touch. The way she smells carrying my pup is, Fuck I need to control myself.

"I can't do this shit now," I push her hand away. "Go home and stay there. I'll call you when I can."

I move away from her and go for the door. I only stop when she grabs my arm.

"I may be carrying your pup, but I don't answer to you," she moves closer. "I deserve to know what the hell is going on and what that dog meant about you leaving with your cream puff."

I pull my arm away. "You deserve nothing. I have to find Sookie and I can't deal with you right now. Go home so I know you're safe."

"What do you mean you have to find her?" Rikki asks. "Why do you even care? It's not like she can give you the life you want or need. She can't have your kids and if she could, they would be shunned from any pack for being half-breeds. That is if they changed at all. Would you do that to your own kids?"

I growl at her. This is why I never wanted kids. I didn't want them with Deb because I knew what it would mean. I just couldn't stop myself with Rikki. She is so much stronger then Debbie was. I couldn't resist her.

"You know I'm telling the truth, Alcide. You may say you love her but we both know that she isn't what you need. She can never be enough for you. She isn't one of us."

I walk right up to her so she has to look up to meet my eyes.

"I love her. Sookie is what I want," I say just above a whisper.

I feel her hand as she glides it up my neck into my hair.

"No she's not," she whispers back.

Before I can say anything else, she pulls me toward her and kisses me.

The feeling of her, her scent and her strength rolls over me. I want to pull away but I can't. Her scent is driving me crazy.

Growling, I pull her closer to me and take control. I can feel her smiling but I don't fucking care. My Wolf is calling to her and there is nothing I can do to control him.

***0***

SPOV

I sat there tapping my foot as they take yet another vial of blood from me.

"Are we almost done?" I ask her.

"You are most eager to get back to the Norseman. I wonder why he was so hesitant to call you to him before now," Doctor Ludwig says as she hands the last of the vials to her assistant who was introduced to me as Louisa.

She hasn't said much but I know that she is like Doctor Ludwig but for the life of me, I haven't worked up the courage to ask her what she is. For some reason, I would think she'd consider that rude. On the other hand, she does know what I am so it's only fair that she tells me the same, wouldn't you think. Deciding to fall back on my southern upbringing, I put the question aside and decide to talk about something else.

"I feel like a pin cousin," I huff. "What are you looking for anyway?" I ask.

"We are making sure your blood has nothing other than what should be in it," she says and marks something in a file before turning back to me.

"I told you," I say. "They tested our blood in Bon Temps and I was supposed to be clean."

"How would they know you were clean when your type blood is unknown to the humans," she raises one of her eyebrows in my direction?

I sit back a little. The little doctor has a point.

"There, you see," she smiles at me. "Humans are useless with this kind of stuff. They start dealing with things that are beyond their comprehension they just make it worse."

"That's not very nice," I say to her.

"Nice or not it's the truth," she wheels her little stool a little closer to me and raises it so that we are closer to the same height. "Now, let's get a good look at you."

She places both hands on my clavicle and traces both of them with her index fingers. Then she moves her hands to my neck and then to back of my head, holding my head and looking into my eyes. She makes several noises but for the life of me, I'm not sure if they are good or bad.

Finally she places her hand just above my heart and everyone in the room goes silent. I even try to hold my breath when it seems to be just too loud in the silence.

She nods her head and then looks up at me.

"You have shared light with another besides the Norseman," she says. It's not a question.

She smiles at me.

"Fear not, little Faerie. This is a good thing. It has made you strong," she pushes away and moves back to her file. "Much stronger than the Norseman originally thought."

I know what she means about my light. But I didn't share my light with anyone, at least I don't think I did.

"I didn't even know I shared light with Eric," I say. "How did I share it with someone else? God," I roll my eyes. "I didn't share it with Bill or Alcide did I?"

She looks at me. "You know the answer, Faerie. Don't pretend you are as naive as some think you to be."

I wait a moment. I remember what Claudine said about my light. She said Warlow tried but since I was already tied to Eric, he couldn't use it to control me.

I look at the strange doctor again.

"Ah there," she points to me. "You know more than even you know. You shared light with another Faerie. Or should I say that you took light from another Faerie. You are stronger and more potent of a Fae than you should be. That could only mean that either the other gave you his light willingly, which knowing what I do about that Faepire you encountered would never happen in a million years or," she looks in my eyes, "you took it from him."

"How could I take light from him without knowing it?" I ask her. Never mind we are talking about me taking it from him while he was tied to a stone in the cemetery. I shudder just a little and will the image away. God only knows why I did what I did. Thinking back at the situation, I thought it was a good idea then. Why would I do something like that? Hell, if I know.

"You are Faerie," she says to me. "If my tests come back the way I'm thinking they will, you are much more of a Fae than originally thought. The only way a Fae can increase their powers is by absorbing light from another. Usually, this is a mutual thing between two that are joined. But what I see in you was more than one dose. There is another reason for this but it's very unlikely. How many times did you mate with the Faepire?"

"I beg your pardon," I cross my arms.

"You can beg all you want. It's not going to change the question," she drops her pen and looks at me. "How many times?"

I wait for a moment and look around the room. No one seems to be listening in on our conversation but they are all Supes. They could probably been in the next room and still hear us. But no one seems to be bothered by our rather private conversation.

"Just," I swallow. "Just the once."

"No," the doctor shakes her head. "You have much more in you than just the once and what I can tell from your connection to the Norseman, it was a true joining so you couldn't take any more from him than you gave. So, I ask you again; how many times?"

"I'm telling you," I raise my voice just a little. "I was only with him that once. After that…" I sigh.

"After that, he changed," she said. "He wanted you and when you denied him still, he became violent."

I just nod.

"Are you sure you didn't share light again?" she asks.

"Doctor," I say leaning forward. "I think I'd know if we, well, if we were together more than once. Besides," I lean back. "I've been with Alcide for the past few months and I wouldn't sleep around on him."

She nods. "I will trust you then," she moves a little closer. "But that doesn't change the fact that you have a lot more than would be from that one incident with the Faepire."

"Well he was a really old Faerie," I remind her. I don't know exactly what age he was but if Lilith changed him than he had to be ancient.

"No," she shakes her head. "You must have received it from another source. You and your brother are the only left of your line?"

"Well, there is Hadley but I don't think she has any of the light," I pause. "So there's just us and my great Grandfather, Niall," I say. "But I've not seen him a bit. I'm not sure where he is."

She spins around. "Niall?" she asks. "That is not a name I've heard in some time," she sighs. "Tell me, Faerie, did he give you anything the last time he was with you?"

"I…no," I stutter. "Well," I shrug. "He had this sort of liquor with him the last few times I saw him. It was very good and had a citrus taste to it."

She leans forward. "Was it gold or silver?" she asks.

"Um," I shake my head. "Gold, it was gold."

She shakes her head. "That sneaky Faerie," she growls.

"Why," I say. "What's wrong with what he gave me?"

"Sookie," She says. I pay closer attention because it's the first time she's called me by name. "I need to ask you something and I want you to think before you answer. How did you feel after you drank the elixir?"

I think on it for a moment. How did I feel? I'm not really sure how to put it into words.

"I," I pause. "I felt like I do when I spend the day in the sun. I don't know how to describe it. But I feel light, free," I look at her. "Does that make any sense?"

She nods. "It does when you consider your parentage," she huffs and rolls away. "Stupid, meddling, old Faerie."

"What are you talking about?" I ask her.

"Niall is a very old, very strong Faerie. But did he tell you that he's considered royalty?" she asks.

"He's what?" I ask her.

"Well, he's just about an elder," she shrugs.

"I hate to disagree with you and all but I met a Faerie Elder. Niall has a little more focus than she did," I smile.

"Ah, you met one that was on the other side of the portal. Yes, I heard about her. She had been rumored to be a bit scattered," she laughs.

"You said the one that was on the other side of the portal?" I ask. "What do you mean? I thought all the Faeries that were here came through that portal with me when we ran?"

She looks at me with very serious expression on her face. "My, you really don't know anything about your heritage do you?"

"Well considering I didn't know what I was until Bill told me, no. Oh and Niall hasn't been so forthcoming with me either and the others are dead, thanks to Warlow so no, I guess I don't know much about what I am."

"The ones that were slaughtered were unfortunate. I was called to the cleanup and was saddened by what I saw. Faeries are not known to linger or even mingle with other kinds but it still doesn't change the fact that it was a tragedy of epic proportion. But don't think for one moment that they were all killed that day," she pauses but before I can ask her what she means by that she continues. "I'm not surprised Niall hasn't been more forthcoming. He was always a secretive bastard," she waves her hand. "I will tell you what I know. Others here may know more but it will be a start for you."

The doctor is silent for a moment. I'm not sure if it's for dramatic effect but I'm about ready to lose my patience with all of this.

"There are many tribes of Fae, young one. It is said that at one point in time, they were all one. The unit was strong and whole and every Fae lived in cohesive union with the other. But as things have a tendency to do, they changed. None are sure when, but at some point several different groups broke off into separate factions. Some stayed here on this plane of existence, while others searched out other times, other realms and other planes to live on, conqueror or absorb within their own control. One Fae, by the name of Mab was said to have been a bit eccentric. Well more eccentric than most. Most Fae have some eccentricities. However, Mab's mood said to have turned to other things, more violent things. What she was planning was unknown to most but the Fae were at war with her and her followers. She was taking Fae from other factions and hiding them away. It didn't take long for the other factions to react to her outbursts. They rose up and with the help of very powerful Fae Magick, bewitched her, sealing her within her own plane. They thought that would take care of Mab. If she couldn't move between planes she could do no harm. The Magick affected her and her blood line. But the Magick couldn't prevent others who were not blood to her or owed her their lives to come and go as they pleased," she raises an eyebrow to me. "There are rumors that she somehow bound halflings to be her slaves and help create more Fae."

She stops for a moment and nods. "Yes, my child," she sighs. "We learned when those others escaped with you that she was using halflings to breed both with other halflings and full fae. She was literally breeding her own army. They even told us that once there for some time, the abducted halflings could never return to this place but that has never been confirmed."

I nod. Yeah, I'm thinking I can confirm that one. But that means that Grampa and Barry were not only trapped there but that this Mab was breeding them. Okay, that is just, ugh, I don't want to think about it.

"I've heard that some rose up and opened the portal before she closed it herself. Those who got through were saved. The ones who didn't are now trapped in the realm with Mab and her minions."

"I know of this place," I say nodding.

"Yes," she smiles, "I believe you do. But that is all I know of Mab and her followers. Niall would know more as would others but they don't talk to those who aren't of their kind about such things."

I think on what she's said for a minute. That means that Claudine was bringing me there to what, breed more Faeries? How could I believe a word she said to me if that is what she was doing.

"I was taken there," I say softly.

"And you escaped," the doctor replies.

"But the one that took me," I pause. "How could she do that?"

"I believe that this Fae was your caretaker? Or as the human's say, your Faerie Godmother?" she asks.

I shrug. "That's what she said. I'd seen her more than once and she seemed to want to help me. But now I find out that she was trying to get me to be a breeding machine."

She is silent for a moment.

"One would think that her two tasks were polar opposites, protecting you and obeying Mab. But I think that is not the case. Perhaps she felt bringing you to Mab, was protecting you, at the time."

"But if I took that fruit and bred, I'd never been able to come back," I sigh.

"At the time, perhaps she was doing what she thought best for you," she replies.

"But they were all, ugly and," I shake my head.

"That plane is dying from what I'm told. Those who could, got out when they could. That is why they needed light, and young ones. They needed a rebirth."

"Why would Claudine and the rest stay there?" I ask.

"I am not sure, young one," she says in a very tender voice. All the ones I've spoken with have told me different stories on why they were there. But I can tell you this; none were there by choice."

"Where are all the full blooded Faeries?" I ask her.

"When Vampires numbers increased some time back, the Faeries thought it best to move to other times. They come and go," she smirks, "leaving parts of themselves here but then return to where they feel safe."

"You mean us halflings," I say to her.

"Indeed," she smiles. "But I'm not sure how much of a Halfling you are any longer. As I said, you have a great deal of light. More so than others I've seen. If I didn't know that you were supposed to be human, I'd swear you are full Fae."

"How can that be?" I ask her. "If I was full Fae, then every Vampire around would be going crazy for my blood."

"That is the question, now isn't it?" she smiles. "I am thinking that the fact that you have absorbed light instead of being born with all of it has a great deal to do with that.. I don't think you smelled any different to any Vampire here but then again, it could be because they didn't taste your blood. But one thing is for sure. You are more powerful than any of us realized and I believe it is due to you taking in the light of the Faepire as well as Niall feeding you the elixir of life."

"I'm sorry, the what?" I ask her.

"Well, that is what I've heard it called. You have heard of lightning in a bottle?" she asks me.

I nod.

"Well this is Fae Light in a bottle. More specifically it is sunlight in a bottle. Your type of Fae thrive off of light and air. Others find solace with the ground and nature. While still others, find solace in the sea."

"Why would Niall be giving me this elixir of life?" I ask.

She shrugs. "I don't know. But it has done one thing. It's assisted in expanding and making your light very strong."

I think on this for a moment before looking back to Ludwig. "If Warlow's light was strong, how come Eric hasn't healed? He drank in Warlow and Claudine. That should be some pretty heavy light."

She smirks. "The first Faerie, you say her name was Claudine?"

I nod again.

"Yes, Claudine," she pauses. "Gave him the light he could share with you. The connection, the bond, the sharing of light usually results in off-spring. Since he is a Vampire, the connection formed an unbreakable union between the two of you."

"You're sure?" I ask her.

"What other reason would there be for the Norseman to not be able to heal? He needs you to heal. He needs your light, your connection."

"What about Warlow?" I ask her.

"I suspect that by the time that the Norseman drank from him, the Faepire had very little light left. You," she points to me. "You took most of it."

I shake my head. "So you are saying that Eric needed me to well," I roll my hand over trying to say what I'm saying without saying it.

"Join, yes," Ludwig helps me out.

"Right, he needs me to do that and he hasn't called me do this joining?" I ask her. "I would think that Eric would be falling over himself to get me to join with him."

"Yes, well," she says and turns back to her file. "Now you know what you are and how you came to be. What Niall had planned for you will be a moot point. You are in a union, a Fae union with your Vampire. Even as old as Niall is, he can't change that."

"I don't understand," I say to her.

"Never you mind, Faerie," she says with a smile as she turns to take a bag of blood that was handed to her.

Turning to me she holds it out to me. "Give this to your Vampire. You will need to exchange blood during the joining but this will go a long way to make him strong enough for the journey."

I take the bag from her. "I still don't understand all of this."

"He will explain it to you," she snaps her fingers at someone in the corner. I'm thinking it's a guard.

He comes forward without saying a word.

"Take her back to Norseman," she says and then turns back to her file. "We will be talking again soon Faerie."

Just like that, I'm dismissed.

Turning, I wait for the guard to say something. When he turns without so much as a word. I huff and follow him out of the lab and back down the hall. Hoping when I get back to Eric, he's going to give me more than just a few answers.

***0***

Jason's POV

I look at the clock one more time and start tapping my foot. I need to get out of here if I'm going to make it out of town before those military guys come back. I hate doing this but like that message we got last night said, Violet and I really don't have any choice. With Sookie gone, they were going to come for us sooner or later and I'd bet it's going to be sooner than soon. Hell, that is what the Fellowship would have done and I don't think these people are much better. I just wish I had more time. With Andy gone, there won't be much help for the town. Not like I could do anything against them Hep-V Vamps by myself and I'll be damned if I'm going to let Violet get hurt but at least I'd be here. But with Bill and Sam in charge, I don't think anyone has much of a chance of coming out of this. If I could save everyone, I would but the message said that they would do what they could for the town but right now we were in trouble and had to think of ourselves.

Violet didn't want me to stay last night. Hell, she was ready to turn me just so she could get me out of the house with her. But then she wouldn't have my blood on tap and right now, that means more to Vampires than anything. Besides, I needed to create a diversion and I couldn't do that if there was any way they could use Violet against me. She would be a sitting duck in the house and I wasn't gonna have none of that. She may want to protect me but I want to do the same right back.

We may only been together a few months, but I love that Vampire. It's the first time in my life that I've cared about someone and their needs before myself. If those military fuckers laid one hand on her, I'd destroy them where they stood.

The only way I got her to go without me was to promise to be out of here before those idiots showed up. We didn't have to worry about money or anything like that. Violet was taking care of our needs. Being as old as she is, she has her ways and she is planning on making us disappear for as long as she possibly can. The only thing I made her promise is that we made sure Sookie got out and is safe. I may be selfish and done a lot in my life I'm not proud of but I love my sister and so does Violet. If staying here or going with Sookie would have protected her from these fuckers, I know that Violet would have done it. But she needs to be as far away as I can get her and I need to make an appearance so the town doesn't go into full blown panic.

Looking at the clock again, I decide that it's now or never. Turning around I grab the bag I had stashed in my office all day and head on out.

"Taking a break, Jason?" one of my deputies asks.

I nod and point to the door. "Be back in a bit," I say.

"Okay," he looks back at the computer. "What you want me to tell them army guys if they get here before you're back?"

I stop and look at him. "Tell them, to wait and I'll be back."

"Oh, okay," he says and turns his attention back to what he was watching.

Shaking my head, I head out and get in my patrol car. Turning the car towards Mendon, I start out of town. About fifteen minutes into the drive, I get a sinking feeling like I'm being watched but I don't see anything and I haven't passed one car since I left the center of town.

I half thought I'd pass those military people on the way but as luck would have it, they must have been delayed. I knew I was cutting it close on time and I'm thanking whoever is up there looking out for me that I'm almost in the clear.

Pulling into the new Executive Business Complex, I drive my cruiser to the far side of the parking lot and park next to a very nice looking black sedan. I smile. Violet promised that the car waiting for me would be nothing anyone would expect me to drive and she is so right.

"It will be ideal, Jason," she said to me. "No one will suspect you to be driving the car I have in mind."

I smile again and grab the bag beside me before getting out. Turning to face the car I unbutton my shirt and pull it off along with the uniform pants. Grabbing the jeans and shirt out of the bag I look around to make sure no one is around and change before leaving the clothes, my badge, and my wallet on the seat of the cruiser. I keep my sidearm because honestly, I won't feel safe until I'm as far away from here as possible and I need to have something in case all of this goes sideways. It's not like I'm going to have a five hundred year old Vampire to protect me. Well, that is until I meet up with Violet. Hell, I think I'll probably keep my sidearm then too. If the last twenty-four hours has taught me anything is that no one is safe and you can only trust your own. Oh and the Government are a bunch of fucked up individuals. Lastly, I open my wallet and take out a picture I've had on me since I was like twelve or something. It's a picture of Gran, Sookie and I sitting on the front porch swing. Hell, I don't even remember who took the dang thing. But I do know that any time I've needed to smile, all I've had to do is look at this picture. I'm okay with leaving everything else but this picture is coming with me. At least until I can see my sister's pretty smile again.

Taking another deep breath, I turn to the new sedan and open the door. Looking under the seat, I find the new wallet and keys that Violet promised would be there. Taking them, I sit down in the leather seat and start the car. Giving myself a few minutes to get adjusted to it, I finally put the car in drive and head out to the intersection. Once there, I take the turn off that's going to head me north and out of the state. With any luck, I'll make St. Louis in time to make the plane and I'll be off to meet Violet. Going all the way to St. Louis was her idea. She wanted me far enough away from Louisiana before I got on a plane. She said there was no one that would think I'd travel so far to get on a plane and a Vampire plane to boot. She said that she didn't want me to go to Dallas or even Shreveport In case any of them were looking for me. I think that driving all the way to St. Louis to get on a plane was a little overkill but there's a reason Violet is as old as she is and I'll take her advice on all of this.

Once we'd found out what was going on, it didn't take her much time to make all the arrangements. It's like she already knew this was all going to happen so she at least had a plan in place to get out of Bon Temps if we had too. She didn't even think to question the message we got just after midnight. Again, it was like she already knew what was gonna happen. I'm really gonna need to talk to her about all that when I see her. Until then, I just have to concentrate on the road and get my ass out of here before those jackasses decide to take me like they took Andy and how they were gonna take Sookie.

I squeeze the steering wheel when I think about what they all had planned for my sister. It took every ounce of control (and a lot of Violet's blood) to not go crazy on Sam when he came into the station earlier. I couldn't believe the nerve of him coming in to report all my friends missing. Okay, maybe not all of them but the ones that mattered to me and Sookie were gone and I knew all too well why. Hell, he even tried to get me to jump when he said Sookie was missing. Funny thing is, I would have believed him more if one, I didn't know what was going on and two, Alcide was with him.

It's a good thing that Wolf wasn't with him. I just may have had to shoot him for what he did to my sister. But if I did, there would have been a crazy mess to clean up and I've had enough messes for one lifetime, thank you very much.

Passing the next exit, I see a mile marker for Bon Temps and something low in my stomach tightens. I look in the back of the car and see all the bags Violet took with her the night before. A good thing I don't have to pack much but there is still a lot that I'm leaving behind. There is a lot that both Sookie and I are leaving behind. Hell, neither of us has ever lived outside the state and now we may never come back.

That thought brings a tear to my eye. Taking another deep breath I try to will the sadness away. I know this is the only way we can keep ourselves and Sookie out of the hands of those monsters. Still, I really wish I could talk to her right about now but I know that is impossible. When it's safe, we'll talk to her. I know I will. Sookie's too strong to let anything happen to her. And she has that big Vamp to protect her. No, Sookie will be just fine. I just have to have a little faith is all. She's out and away and that's what matters the most right now.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I really want her with that Vampire but I know that he'll protect her. When Tara called and let us know what was going on, she promised me that Sookie would be safe. I know Tara wouldn't do anything to hurt Sook. She would rather burn in the sun than hurt her. It doesn't change the fact that I'm her big brother and I'd do anything to talk to her and hear for myself that she's okay.

Taking another turn, I merge onto the interstate and hope that my luck stays with me and that I get to my destination safely. The alternative is just too much to think about.

***0***

Lt. Tisdale POV

"What do you mean, they are all gone?" I ask my second standing in front of me.

"Sir," he moves a little closer. "It's exactly what we said earlier. No one has seen the Vampires in question since early last night. We've checked their homes, their phones, and found nothing. Either they've met their true end or they've gone off the grid. I'm thinking the latter."

I motion for him to continue. "The cook Miss Stackhouse is reportedly friends with has disappeared as well. He didn't show up to work today and there is no one at his residence."

"What about the brother?" I ask him.

"We have uniforms down at the Police Station now. They said he went on a break but hasn't returned yet," he states.

"Go to his house," I say stepping toward him. "Get that Vampire that has been co-habitating with him and seal her in a box. That will get the brother's attention. We will take those two if that's all we have," I turn and go back to the desk in the office of the Fangtasia bar we decided to make our point place since last night's fiasco. It's a bit more convenient than going back to the facility. Besides, if everything goes as planned, we will be out of here by dawn.

My second nods at me.

"Oh," I say and he stops to look at me. "Bring in the other one that Miss Stackhouse was living with and the Mayor," I sit in the chair. "I think they have some explaining to do."

He nods and walks out.

Checking my watch, I see we have several hours until sunset. I need to get this done before our Pet Vampire rises.

Looking down at the file of material we've compiled I shove it away. It is giving me nothing new on this matter and quite frankly right now I can't afford nothing. I need something, anything to go our way or it's going to be me that has a lot of explaining to do and I don't think the brass or the delegation will be happy with my answers.

I'd thought that the plane angle would be our best lead. But we couldn't find the plane landing anywhere between here and Wyoming and there were no requests for small planes to land in any of the lower 48 states that hasn't been accounted for in the last twenty-four hours. I'd requested that we ground all Vampire planes from that Vamp Company that carts them around like luggage but my request was declined. With all the problems we are having with Hep-V and the sensitive nature of the non-infected Vampires, the Government didn't want to muddy the waters. Muddy, hell, if we don't figure out what is going on soon, mud in the water will be the least of our worries. Vampires will have us all swimming in blood.

But even without the request we checked and found nothing. It's like she just vanished. Though, after what she did at the bar, I'm not sure anything is out of this little girl's reach.

Looking around the room, I shake my head at the sight of this place. I can't believe that humans ever came to such a place. I've seen some Vampire bars in New York and even been to that one in Vegas but I've never seen anything like this. It's just a hole in the wall bar. Why are we even here? Why am I not out making inquiries? Why am I not hunting down the next on the list of prospective case subjects instead of sitting in this rat hole trying to find some red-neck little girl who everyone is up in arms about? Oh right, the Delegation and more importantly, Doctor Stork thinks she can be utilized better than the others that we've found. Up until last night, I'd have said she was no more than a little hick that would be no better to us than the rest. But after seeing her do what she did, makes me take pause.

Oh, and let's not forget, the Delegation will want to know how we lost a little girl. To tell you the truth, I've no idea.

Picking up my phone, I dial a number. I sit, waiting for it to be answered.

"Yes?" the receiver asks.

"Bring up the father," I say and hang up.

Leaning back, I close my eyes. Maybe this father will know where his daughter is. If he doesn't then we will have a problem and I don't like problems. They are messy and I'm really done with cleaning them up.

There is a knock on my door and I look up as one of my men comes in with a very tired, very weary man. I hadn't gotten a good look at him last night but today, I take my time to examine him.

He is overweight and a little unkempt. That's probably due to the fact that we had him down in a dark storage room all night. Yeah, that could be it. But that doesn't change the fact that this portly gentleman has information that we need and I'll do what I have to in order to get it from him.

"Have a seat," I say to him.

"Not until you tell me what the hell I'm doing in this Vamp bar," he growls.

"Today it's where we are operating from," I say without any emotion in my voice. "Now, please have a seat."

Bellefleur looks around before taking the seat in front of the desk.

"Why am I here?" He asks me.

"We would like to discuss your daughter," I say.

He leans forward. "You know where she is?"

"Mr. Bellefleur," I begin.

"That's Sheriff Bellefleur," he growls.

I look up at him for a moment. Yes, I know he's the law in that small town and I almost feel sorry for him that he thinks that his job pulls any weight here. Small town law doesn't mean a thing, not any more. We are about half a second from declaring Marshall Law on this area. The only thing holding back the Delegation is that it will cause the Vamps to rise up. They know we can't beat them. Even with all the things Burrell came up with. They are just too strong. I'm not a Vamp supporter but I'm a realist. If I was called to fight against the healthy ones, I know I'd come home drained in a body bag. It's just how it is.

"Very well," I pause. "Sheriff Bellefleur, do you know of any reason for your daughter to be taken away from you by a Vampire in the middle of the night?"

I see that he's holding the chair trying to compose himself. "I'll tell you what I told the rest of those guys. I've got no idea where my daughter is or who would be dumb enough to take the Sheriff's daughter. Now, you have no right to hold me and I want to go home NOW!"

"Yes well," I stand and come around the desk. "I find that hard to believe you don't know where your daughter is or who took her. Now, let's start again. Who was the Vampire that took your daughter? Because we know that a human couldn't move that fast."

"How many times do I need to say this, son," he looks at the door and then back at me. "I don't know what you are all talking about. One minute, me and my daughter are at home watching some girly thing she wanted to see and then next minute your men are waltzing into my family home like they own the joint."

"Mr," I pause. "Sheriff," I smile at him. "I understand that you are upset. But we need to protect you and your daughter from the threats facing your town. Now, we need to find her to make sure she is out of harm's way. We know that she's different and others will come after her."

"Yeah, throwing someone in a storage room under guard is how you show your concern. I'm the law in these here parts. You can't just be taking people from their homes."

"Sheriff," I say to him. "I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation."

"I understand what's going on. What I don't understand is what you have to do with it." Bellefleur snaps at me.

I stay quiet.

"You have nothing to say," he goes to stand up. "Then I'd like to leave."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," I say and two guards move to the door.

He spins around to look at me. "We still have rights. Last time I looked, the Constitution still controlled what we can and can't do. Until I'm told otherwise, you have nothing to hold me. Now let me out of here!"

I lean back against the desk and look at the man before me. I don't honestly think he knows where his daughter is but I can't take the chance that he may say something about what he's already seen either.

I say nothing to the Sheriff and look toward the guards who have been waiting at the door "Prepare him for transport. Have him moved to the Facility before nightfall."

Perhaps the doctor will be able to talk some sense into him.

I turn away as the guards help the Sheriff up out of his chair and move him back down the hall to his accommodations. I try not to listen to the shouts and accusations he's screaming at anyone that he passes. There aren't many of our men here but then again, none of them would listen to him anyway. Right or wrong, we have all been desensitized to it all. .

Six months ago, I would never hold a civilian against their wishes. But things have changed and I don't have the time or the energy to think on the ethical ramifications of my actions right now. We need to save the humans and if we have to take some of those humans down while we do it, so be it. After all, isn't this all for the greater good?

Making my way back to my desk, the phone begins to ring.

Picking it up, I say hello.

"Tisdale, McAvoy here," he says. "It would seem that we have an issue."

"Sir," I pause. "What would that be?"

Besides the twenty I'm currently facing.

"Yes, well, there has been some information that has come to light…"

I don't get to hear the rest of the statement. A blinding light and an explosion that rattles the building resonate through the building. I'm about to go running toward the blast when everything goes black.


End file.
